The Laws of Terror and Joy
by TVfan
Summary: Sequal to "All the King's Men". The Scriers call for revenge on Spider-Man and Arachne, and as a larger conflict looms in the background, the arachnid themed heroes must find a way to win as life goes on.
1. Chapter 1

-1All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 1: Fantastic Meetings**

**Avengers Tower**

"You what?" Mary Jane asked in surprise letting her toothbrush fall out of her mouth and land in the sink in front of her.

"I said I'm going to do what I can to track down the Scriers," Peter answered, "As we both know that they aren't going to take our 'rescuing' of Osborn, even it was only to send him to prison, lightly."

"Yes, I know that," Mary Jane answered as she turned to face her husband, "but we did what we had to and beat them. Do you think they're going to mount an assault on the Avengers Tower?"

"No, that isn't exactly their style," Peter admitted.

"Then why bother go looking for them?" Mary Jane demanded, "Something here is failing the common sense test."

"I'm doing it because I know that if we don't get them behind bars, they may very well do something like what they did with Osborn," Peter answered, "Hire some powerful villain, either in terms of his personal ability or ability to control people with super powers to try and hunt us down, and since we may be their next target, they may give these foes our names, as I'm sure they've figured out who Arachne is."

Mary Jane sighed, knowing that because of the Scrier's association with Osborn, they likely knew Peter's identity as Spider-Man from him, and therefore probably figured out who her alter-ego, Arachne, was as well. She had gotten used to various villains grabbing her because of who her husband was, and she now felt that as Arachne, she might have a leg up on some of them as they wouldn't expect her to be able to fight back, but that still didn't mean she wanted her identity to be publicly known.

"I can understand that you don't want them to cause any major trouble, like what they did with Fisk," Mary Jane sighed, "but wouldn't it be better that you wait until they try something directly? I mean, we have no idea where Kaine went after the Scrier's warehouse burned down, let alone where the Scriers themselves went."

"I know that," Peter sighed.

"So how do you expect to find the Sciers?" Mary Jane questioned, "We had to beat it out of Fisk's men in order to find their last hideout, and Osborn is in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody. I doubt they'd let us question him."

"I was thinking more along the lines of drawing them out," Peter answered, "Act like I'm not paying attention and they'll set up some sort of ambush for me."

"Purposely springing traps is not the wisest idea," Mary Jane said firmly, "especially since I have rehearsals today and can't back you up."

"It's the only thing I can think of," Peter answered, "I don't think any other hero has had any altercations with the Scriers."

"I would still think that there is some thinking that needs to be done before you go gallivanting off after a secret organization that might be wanting to take revenge on us for sending Osborn to prison rather then killing him."

"Maybe after I find them, but for now, neither of us can do anymore," Peter answered.

"I'd still prefer to let them come to us," Mary Jane told Peter and returned to brushing her teeth.

Peter then sighed, "To be honest, I'd prefer that too, but the Scriers were always something that stood apart from other villains. Guys like Osborn can be relatively easy to find and it's almost better idea to try and react to their plans, but the Scriers… the Scriers are somehow different. You never know what they're doing, sometimes even after they've done it. Guys like Osborn tend to leave very visible trails of their actions. The Scriers, don't, and I don't want to keep Aunt May kept in the tower because the Scriers might decide to pull something out of Osborn's book."

Realizing that Peter was determined to do this, Mary Jane sighed. There was nothing at the moment that she could do to talk him out of it.

"Just take care of yourself then," Mary Jane said firmly, "and call me if you get into real trouble."

"I will, and don't worry," Peter told her as he kissed her on the check, "Have a good rehearsal."

**Newark, New Jersey**

The Lead Scrier who had lead the recent operation to try and gain revenge on Osborn quietly walked through one of the rooms of a fairly expensive looking apartment that was secretly owned by the Brotherhood of Scriers. He carefully approached a mirror inside the apartment's master bedroom. Tapping on the side of the mirror, the Lead Scrier activated a hidden gear that flipped the mirror around to reveal a direct communications link with the main Scrier bases in the Himalayas. The Grand Master of the Brotherhood of Scriers appeared on the screen before him.

"Greetings, Manhattan Leader," the Grand Master of the Scriers spoke, "I trust that Norman Osborn is dead for his betrayal?"

"I am afraid not, Master," the Manhattan Leader of Scriers answered, hiding his own nervousness, "the hero and heroine Spider-Man and Arachne carried him off. I believe he is presently in the custody of the agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D. and other then that, we do not know anything."

"It is unlikely that he will be able to get away from S.H.I.E.L.D.," the Grand Master of the Scriers spoke back, "We know enough about the technology that Fury built for them that Osborn will not escape them."

"That was my impression as well," the Manhattan Leader of Scriers answered, "and I also presume that Spider-Man and Arachne are now to be viewed as true enemies of the Brotherhood?"

"Yes," the Grand Master of Scriers answered, "Spider-Man has meddled in our affairs before. Now he has stopped the rightful of execution of a man who is also his enemy. He must be punished."

"I have most of the New York area members keeping an eye on him," the Manhattan Leader answered, "Improving our files on him so that the appropriate action can be taken."

"Make sure that he battles persons other then ourselves," the Grand Master of Scriers said firmly, "I do recall that Osborn did send reports on Spider-Man's ability to defeat large numbers of non-super powered enemies, even if they were among the best warriors in the Brotherhood."

"He hardly defeated our warriors," the Manhattan Leader replied, "More like he managed to escape."

"Regardless, Spider-Man is experienced in facing long odds, and has a habit of having his battles do damage to the area around him," the Grand Master of Scriers said firmly, "It would be preferable that the tool of his destruction be someone who has no connection to us."

"Of course," the Manhattan Leader nodded, "It will be done."

**Avengers Tower**

"Peter seemed to be in an awfully big hurry this morning," Aunt May commented as she and Mary Jane ate breakfast, "Does he teach today?"

"No, his last teaching day for this week was yesterday," Mary Jane answered, "He's not supposed to return to the school to teach again until next Tuesday, although they could ask him to 'sub' one of the other classes… but he won't be doing that today."

"Is there trouble?" Aunt May asked.

"No one's caused any major trouble, yet," Mary Jane sighed, "but he fears the Scriers will decide to have revenge on us for foiling their attempt to get revenge on Osborn."

"Revenge is never a good course to take," Aunt May commented, "Revenge seems to follow cycles. One person does something and someone feels offended by it and decides to get even and when they do, someone who had no idea about the original crime witnesses the revenge action and then lust to get even with the first person who had his revenge. It never stops in many cases."

"Well, Peter isn't the one trying to get revenge," Mary Jane told her, "He's worried that the Scriers might go after you."

"Peter was never that way," Aunt May commented.

"He's had his moments," Mary Jane informed Aunt May, trying to sound careful, "Although, it's generally after someone's done something that has really done something. The Chameleon once used robot duplicates of his parents in an attempt to try and kill him. When he learned of that deception, he sort of abandoned being 'Peter Parker' to get even with the Chameleon after he hurt him so dearly. I'm also pretty sure that Osborn's involvement in Gwen's death didn't make him very happy either."

Aunt May was quiet for a moment and then said, "It isn't in his nature to want revenge, and sadly, many people do many things that they regret later when they're angry."

"Yeah," Mary Jane nodded, "But if these Scriers kill him while they're angry, I doubt they'll regret it."

"Peter's a smart boy," Aunt May said, "I'm sure he won't put himself in too much danger deliberately."

"He may not do that deliberately, but it could very well happen anyway," Mary Jane answered, "And with the new play having its first rehearsals today, I can't call in sick to watch his back. And what really confuses me is that he said they wouldn't go on some sort of revenge streak against us. If they wouldn't do that, why is he going after them like they might."

"He may not have thought it over entirely," Aunt May commented, "Something else might have happened that made him change his mind."

"The whole thing still fails the 'common sense test' as far as I'm concerned," Mary Jane answered, "If they do go for a revenge plot, we should let them come to us. We can handle them easier that way, but going after them like this seems rather foolish, and as I said, I can't back him up today."

"He'll be alright, and neither of you need to worry about me," Aunt May said firmly, "I'll be perfectly fine."

**The Scrier's Former Base**

Spider-Man landed on the edge of the burned out base. The whole situation involving the defeat of the Scriers and the sending of Norman Osborn into S.H.I.E.L.D. custody had been a weird one. He was fairly certain that he had seen the building on fire when he and Arachne left with Osborn, but he never saw any news report on the fire, which he found confusing. Then the next day, he was actually pursuing a couple of carjackers while MJ was busy with some lessons with Steven Rogers, also known as Captain America. As he chased after them, he noticed that there was no major fire damage to the exterior of the building, there was visible damage, but damage that indicated that what happened was far smaller then what he had seen earlier. It was all too weird.

"When investigating something, always check the scene of the crime," Spider-Man commented aloud in a manner as if he were reading from some guide to detective work.

Spider-Man then approached the entrance that he and Arachne had used to enter in their attempt to 'rescue' Osborn. He then slowly walked down the stairway and looked around carefully. He noted scorch marks that showed that the fire had burned away any paint and other parts of the wall that would burn, but had left the wall, itself, which was made of metal, perfectly intact. The stairs themselves creaked a little, but his spider-sense didn't give him any warning that the floorboards had been damaged by the fire. There was certainly more to the Scriers then could be easily seen and Spider-Man decided that something that could help him find out where they went would be helpful. If the building survived the fire as well as it did, maybe a safe, or something survived as well.

Meanwhile, while Spider-Man made his way into the abandoned Scrier base, five Scriers landed on the same roof themselves. They had been watching the webbed hero as he moved through the city, and were somewhat surprised that he had returned to their abandoned base. One member pulled out a cellphone and dialed a number.

"We might have a problem, sir," one of the Scriers said in a nervous voice.

"What is it?" the Manhattan Leader demanded, "Have you lost your ability to watch Spider-Man?"

"No, we know where he is," the reporting Scrier reported.

"Then what is it?!" The Manhattan Leader asked in a nearly furious voice.

"He has gone into the facilities we were using to torture Osborn," the reporting Scrier said nervously.

"All our equipment as been removed from it," the Manhattan Leader answered, "There is nothing there that he can use to threaten us or even find where we've moved our main operations to."

"Yes, but he doesn't know that," the reporting Scrier answered, "I think he may suspect something. Request permission to kill him before he gets lucky in his search?"

There was a brief silence on the other end. After a few moments the Manhattan Leader answered.

"Very well, but be careful," the Manhattan Leader answered, "You must not allow him to defeat your reconnaissance team and you must not draw the attention of those who are outside the building."

"Of course," the reporting Scrier nodded.

Spider-Man, meanwhile made his way through a series of hallways that all looked as if a fire had raged through them, but still looked like the floor had not been weakened. This puzzled him, but he had no time to theorize on why.

As he walked, he checked inside the rooms that adjoined the hallway. The doors all appeared to have burned away, offering him a clear view of each room. Like the hallways, with the exception of ash laying on the ground and some bits of burned wood, the rooms were bare.

"Love what fire's done with the place," Spider-Man muttered, "It's like the whole thing happened yesterday."

Spider-Man then passed an open door and looked in to at least scan the room as he had done the others. He was forced to take a step back and look into the room to see that there was a pair of wall safes that did not look like they were damaged. He slowly made his way into the room and carefully inspected the safes. Neither of them were damaged and both were of course, locked.

"Time to see which is stronger, the wall or the hinges and the lock to the safe," Spider-Man thought to himself.

Spider-Man then climbed up the wall to stand over the safes and grabbed on of the handles with both hands. He then pulled with all his might, and he did this or several minutes until the metal wall began to bend and he literally pulled he safe out of the wall, and made no progress in getting it unlocked. He tried prying it open the door, but he couldn't get the lock to break. He sighed and then threw safe across the room. It landed on the floor with a loud bang after denting the other wall.

"And I'll suppose the same thing will go for you?" Spider-Man quipped to the other wall safe.

Spider-Man sighed and was about to return simply searching the building for anything that might help him find some clues as to possible locations that the Scriers went to, when his spider-sense went off at full force. Spider-Man quickly leaped up onto the ceiling as he heard several ninja stars harmlessly bounce off the metal wall where he had been standing. He then saw five Scriers walk in through the door, each of them was carrying a sword.

"Well, let me guess," Spider-Man spoke in a fairly humorous voice, "You five are the welcoming committee for new tenants? I'm afraid the market here seems a little rough for my tastes and there is dust everywhere."

"Joke all you wish, Spider-Man," the first Scrier said back, "Your actions have made you a formal enemy of the Brotherhood of Scriers."

"You mean I wasn't before?" Spider-Man asked as he leaped down and landed a kick on two of the Scriers that sent them flying out the door that they had just came in through.

Two other Scriers lashed out at Spider-Man with their swords in a pattern that they hopped would catch him. One swung his on the same level as Spider-Man's neck while the other swung for his knees. Spider-Man merely jumped up, while bending far forward and kicking his legs out so that he nearly did the splits and kicked the second pair of Scriers to opposite ends of the room. He then had to roll out of the way for the first Scrier brought his sword down and cut him in two.

"You know, I'm actually glad you guy's are here," Spider-Man commented as he spun around and shot out a webline that caught the first Scrier's sword, "You see, I had a feeling that you people would decide that since I did my job as a super hero, you would want vengeance. I can't image why. I mean, first I thought you might not actually go for revenge as you know I'm a good guy, but then I remembered that my luck isn't that good."

"How very nice that your wanted us to find you," the second Scrier said as he and the third Scrier reentered the room, "Then I suppose you will enjoy it when we kill you."

Spider-Man then pulled on his webline and took the sword away from the first Scrier. He then smashed it against the floor.

"No, you see, you don't understand," Spider-Man said he flipped up in the air a the fourth Scrier attempted to attack him from behind, "I'm the good guy, you know, the one who backs law and order and justice? Well, your little revenge plots aren't good for the city. You're last one let Fisk regain control over New York crime. Sure he's behind bars now, but his organization is the leader of Manhattan Crime."

"Less talking," the fourth Scrier growled as he pivoted, "More dying!"

Spider-Man easily leaped away and avoided the Scrier's attempt to slice his chest open.

"But it's such a good speech," Spider-Man quipped, "Now, where was I? Oh yes, I've been looking for you as I am not going to let you run another revenge plot that could potentially destroy my city."

Spider-Man then clubbed the fourth Scrier from behind, knocking him out, and caught the fifth Scrier with a webline and then threw him across the room. The fifth Scrier hit the wall hard and fell to the floor unconscious.

"But you guys are so good at hiding, it makes if difficult for me to make sure your cult ceases to exist," Spider-Man finished, "So, would you consider opening those safes for me? Or do I need to beat the living daylights out of all of you before you'll agree to it?"

"You're a fool if you think you can bring down the Brotherhood of Scriers," the first Scrier growled as he threw another barrage of ninja throwing stars at Spider-Man.

"Not the entire Brotherhood," Spider-Man answered, "Just your operations in New York, and the New York area if necessary. I think your Brotherhood would then decide that I am not worth the effort of destroying."

"And you think we let information that you could use here?" the first Scrier questioned as the other two Scriers began to advance on him.

"That was the idea," Spider-Man replied as he fired out two weblines that grabbed the swords of the second and third Scriers and pulled the weapons from their hands, which he destroyed once he caught them.

The second and third Scriers then lunged forward in the hopes of pounding Spider-Man to death, since he had taken their swords. Again, Spider-Man's spider-sense allowed him to avoid taking blows, although one of them did manage to land a punch that glanced off his shoulder. Spider-Man finished off these two by webbing both of them up and letting them struggle against the webs he had used.

"So are you going to give in and give me the information I want?" Spider-Man asked.

"I'm afraid you've made this entire trip in vain," the first Scrier said defiantly, but knowing that Spider-Man had won the engagement.

The Scrier then threw another barrage of throwing stars, forcing Spider-Man to jump backward to avoid being hit.

"You can't beat me by yourself," Spider-Man spoke.

"That is true," the first Scrier nodded as he then pulled several glass spheres from inside his black robes, "but even if you were to beat me, you would gain nothing. The fire destroyed all our electronic equipment and we removed all of the contacts that you could get from our safes the next day. There is nothing here of value. All this is for you is a very hollow victory."

The Scrier then slammed all of the glass spheres to the ground, and when they broke, the entire room filled with smoke. Spider-Man quickly realized that Scrier was trying to make a quick escape without him pursuing. Trusting his spider-sense, he pulled a spider-tracer out of his belt and threw it into the smoke in front of him, hoping he would hit the Scrier, or one of the unconscious ones if he carried them out with him.

Spider-Man ended up standing alone in the room coughing on the smoke for about five minutes before the smoke finally began to clear. When it did, he found the room as bare as it had been when he had entered. The Scrier had somehow carried his comrades out. The safe he had pulled out of the wall lay on the floor not far from him. Ignoring that for a moment, Spider-Man tried to focus on his spider-sense and see if he could locate his tracer. He could still sense it, but it was rapidly approaching the range in which he could sense it without working up some sort of device that could pick up a fainter signal. He then sighed heavily, he didn't trust the Scrier's word, but he couldn't break the safe open, which meant that he would need to cut into it or pick the lock. He would have to find the Scriers again later.

**Off-Broadway Theater**

"You shouldn't worry yourself to death this way," Mary Jane spoke, saying her character's lines in the play, "They haven't even said anything about what has been happening."

"But he is my son," the other actress, named Chloe, spoke her character's lines, "And his unit was at the center of the battle."

"If something had happened to him, surely they would have told you by now," Mary Jane spoke her next line, "All we can do is wait, and if you kill yourself worrying, you won't survive the news, whatever it is."

"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I can not stop worrying," Chloe answered.

"Okay, that's good," the director said from one of the theater seats, "It took us a while, but I believe we've finally got Act One right. I want everyone to keep working on the suggestions given to you for Act One and we will begin work on Act Two on Monday."

The director then made his way toward the offices behind the stage while the actors began to make their way off the stage and head out. Chloe quickly ran to catch up with MJ as she made her way out.

"Thanks for some of the tips on what to say and how say it," Chloe said quickly as she caught up with Mary Jane, "Have you been in a part like that before or…?"

"No, actually, I've never played the part of a worried wife or mother," Mary Jane answered honestly.

"Really?" Chloe asked, "because your suggestions sound like you've had experience with that sort of thing."

"Well, I sort of do, but it has nothing to do with acting," Mary Jane answered, "Do you know the name of the man who takes Spider-Man's pictures for the Bugle?"

"The best ones are by a 'Peter Parker, but the Bugle has used almost anyone's photos of Spider-Man, but Parker's are the best," Chloe answered.

Mary Jane nodded, "That would be my husband…"

"Wow," Chloe cut her off, "You're married to Peter Parker? Oh that is amazing. Has he ever told you how he gets all the shots that he gets?"

"You're a fan of newspaper photography?" Mary Jane asked in a surprised voice.

"Only of the guys who get photographs of the super heroes that live here," Chloe answered, "There is real art there, not just guys playing chess in the park, but a real complicated scene. Especially your husband's, as almost all of his shots appear to have been taken during Spider-Man's battles."

Mary Jane chuckled slightly, but decided to give Chloe an answer.

"It takes a lot of work, and largely involves a lot of hanging from a ledge," Mary Jane answered, hiding the part that Peter generally webbed his camera to the ledge, but she felt what she said was believable, "but that is what ha made me worry from time to time. Because he does try to get those photos while Spider-Man is fighting the super villain of the day, and in doing so, that puts him in a lot of danger. I've worried a lot that he wouldn't come home or that he would come home, but he'd be severely injured."

"Oh man," Chloe gasped in surprise, "I didn't think the work was that dangerous."

"It can be," Mary Jane answered, "And it's given me some 'real world experience' in the art of worrying."

"I'm sorry," Chloe said weakly, "How do you deal with it, if you don't mind my asking?"

That made Mary Jane think for a moment. She worried about Peter because he was Spider-Man, but now as Arachne, she had taken on the role as Spider-Man's partner and she was able to insure that he didn't do anything foolish that could get him seriously hurt.

"There is nothing that has ever made me not worry about him," Mary Jane tried to answer, "but I have reminded myself that he is a smart person and wouldn't needlessly take risks. That's about all I can really do."

"I'm sorry if I brought up a bad subject," Chloe commented.

"It's alright, trust me," Mary Jane told her, "Peter's never gotten himself hurt, and he's been following Spider-Man around with a camera ever since he was fifteen. He'll also be very excited to hear that he has a fan of his work."

"Thank you," Chloe answered, "see you Monday."

Mary Jane nodded and waved goodbye and began to walk toward the Avengers Tower on her own. When she arrived, she found Jarvis dusting off a table in the entrance room that immediately boarded the elevators.

"Hello, Jarvis," Mary Jane greeted the Avengers butler, "Have a good day?"

"Yes, it was most excellent," Jarvis answered, "I am just finishing up some of my duties before moving to spend some time with your Aunt."

"You can call her, May," Mary Jane said to him, "My aunt by blood lives in Florida and no one else here is named May. We'll know who you mean."

"Of course," Jarvis answered.

"Has Peter come back yet?" Mary Jane asked.

"Yes, he has been in one of the main labs working on something," Jarvis answered, "but I do not know what."

"It's alright," Mary Jane answered, "I will figure that part out."

Mary Jane made one brief stop in the room that she and Peter shared to drop off her purse and then set out for the main 'Avengers' area of the building. When she got to the doors that lead into that area, Mary Jane sighed and pressed in the code that Tony had given her after she became Arachne officially. It was largely a gesture of respecting the fact that she was working with her husband, who happened to also be a member of the Avengers. She was granted access as Arachne in case there was a criminal that she had become embroiled with that the Avengers had information on.

She found Peter, still in costume but with his mask was removed, in the main science lab that was available, trying to pick the lock to a safe.

"Tiger, have you and Felicia been doing something you'd like to tell me about?" Mary Jane asked humorously as she walked in.

Peter looked up and then looked over at the safe.

"No, this is from that building that the Scriers were using as a base to torture Osborn in," Peter answered, "I'm trying to see if there is anything the safe that might be of use to finding them."

"Couldn't you just break it open?" Mary Jane asked.

"I tried that," Peter answered, "That's how I got it out of the wall it was in, but the lock and the hinges are apparently much stronger. So, now I'm stuck to picking the lock."

"Any luck?" Mary Jane asked.

"None," Peter sighed, "My first option was to check with Felicia, as her past experience might give me some help in opening the safe, but she wasn't at her apartment or the Cat's Eye, and I doubt her neighbors would react well to Spider-Man stalking her."

"So you came here hoping to pick the lock yourself?" Mary Jane asked.

"Yes," Peter answered, "It can't be all that hard. In all the movies, all the guys do that are breaking into these sorts of safes is listen for a specific sound to know they've got the right number."

"Most of those guys use a stethoscope in the movies and it is generally assumed that they have had prior experience with breaking into safes," Mary Jane pointed out.

"The only other option would be to blow it up," Peter answered, "And I don't want to picking metal fragments and torn pieces of paper off the floor."

Mary Jane then watched as Peter put his ear to the side of the safe and began running through the safe's key dial in an attempt to open it. After a few moments, Peter finally tried to open the door again. By some miracle, he was successful in doing so. Peter then looked into the safe and then sighed heavily.

"He was right," Peter sighed as he set the safe down.

"Huh?" Mary Jane asked.

"I was only successful in finding a group of Scriers that had been tasked to kill me," Peter answered, "There was only five of them, so I guess their primary mission was to find me, but their instructions didn't say they couldn't try to kill me if they thought they could win. I knocked out four of them and the fifth one ran off. Before he did, he said that searching their old base would be pointless."

"And you didn't believe him?" Mary Jane asked.

"I've never had reason to believe a villain when they've told me it was useless," Peter answered, "but apparently that Scrier was right. They had in fact cleaned out the entire base."

"So they've gone," Mary Jane commented.

"Only to lick their wounds," Peter answered, "They have decided that we've committed some crime against their 'Brotherhood'. We've got to find away to put their New York chapter in jail before they cause some serious trouble for everyone."  
"So I take it you're not going to stop with this," Mary Jane asked.

"They're last revenge plot nearly destroyed the city in a gang war," Peter answered, "I'm not going to give them the chance to do anything more to the city in order to get at us."

Mary Jane sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to make much in the way of stopping him from trying.

"And what crime have they committed?" Mary Jane asked, "We have no proof of their activities regarding Osborn and Fisk. We could beat them up and they will be released because there was no evidence of them committing a crime."

"They wear black robes," Peter commented, "Maybe we can send them to the government and say they're terrorists."

"Not funny, Peter," Mary Jane said firmly.

"The police would have to hold them overnight at least," Peter answered seriously, "And if we can find where they're operating out of, we're bound to find hard evidence of their real activities, allowing them to be tried and put in prison."

Mary Jane sighed again.

"So, did the Scrier who escaped give you their address, or are we going to be swinging around the city at random?" Mary Jane asked.

"I managed to get a tracer on him before he left, and…" Peter began to say.

"What, you didn't go after him?" Mary Jane asked.

"He blinded me with smoke, I was still trying to get my bearings back together when he left," Peter answered, "Anyway, I did get a spider-tracer on him, but he's gone outside the range that I can feel it with my spider-sense. I've been trying to work out a device that can read the same signal, but is far sharper then what our spider-senses work at, but the tower here doesn't have all the right equipment."

Peter then held up a small piece of plastic that looked like a cellphone.

"I've got all the stuff needed for the software, housing, and wiring, but I need some kind of receiver that can catch the signal," Peter answered, "and those here aren't good enough."

"So where are you going to get the receiver?" Mary Jane asked.

"The only guy I know that might have the access to a receiver would be Reed Richards," Peter answered, "Although he uses most of that stuff to communicate with Galactus or something like that."

"Great a mystical nightmare into a guy who eats planets for lunch," Mary Jane sighed, "I'll go get changed."

**Newark, New Jersey**

"You failed to kill him?" the Manhattan leader asked in a questioning tone.

"I think Osborn's files and the reports of Fisk's lackeys underestimated Spider-Man's skills," the last remaining conscious Scrier from the earlier battle said, "We would be better to use the initial report of our agents in the battles that were fought against the Clone-Spider-Man."

"Reilly?" the Manhattan leader asked.

"Yes, I believe he had more altercations with us then Spider-Man did and both Spider-Man and Clone-Spider-Man have the same powers, so our files on Clone-Spider-Man should give us accurate assessment of Spider-Man's abilities and weaknesses," the Scrier answered.

"Osborn destroyed all those documents after he killed Ben Reilly," the Manhattan leader gave a growling sigh, "In terms of dealing with Spider-Man and Arachne, we will have to rewrite our observations, and for the moment, should not engage either unless we heavily outnumber the Avengers as a team."

"Of course," the Scrier answered, "Shall we send a call to the other offices for help?"

"No," The Manhattan leader spoke, "For the time being we are to merely monitor Spider-Man and his partner. There is no necessary need to waste men on two heroes when we can easily get others to do the work for us… perhaps that was part of our mistake with Osborn. We should have let Fisk kill him when he captured him, then we would not need to worry about this."

"Who shall we contact?" the Scrier asked.

"For now, we will merely observe the situation," the Manhattan leader spoke, "It would be preferable to avoid organized gangsters, as they generally like to use their own plans, many of which do not fully suit our needs, but most of the criminals that would stand the best chance of defeating Spider-Man and Arachne are in jail. We must analyze the talent available to us."

"Of course," the other Scrier nodded.

**The Baxter Building**

Spider-Man landed on one of he large windows that made up the upper floors of the Baxter Building, the headquarters of the Fantastic Four, and began looking in through the window, hoping one of the Fantastic Four was inside. Arachne landed above him and merely looked down toward the ground.

"Shouldn't we go to the roof an knock?" Arachne asked, "I mean, they all live here, like we live at the Avengers Tower, and you know that Mr. and Mrs. Fantastic are married to each other."

"So?" Spider-Man asked.

"Well suppose they're… you know… enjoying each other's company and we go by the window," Arachne said, trying to hide some embarrassment on her part.

"I've landed on every window on this building whenever I've needed Reed's help," Spider-Man answered, "I've never seen anything like a bedroom. Besides, our bedroom doesn't have windows."

"That's not the point," Arachne answered, "They have to have a door on the roof, incase some of the guys that can fly need help or maybe even a special elevator for guys that can't fly. It'd be polite to knock first, especially since we didn't call ahead."

"I'll knock as soon as I find window that one of them will hear me knocking from," Spider-Man answered and continued along.

Arachne was about to say something when one of the windows opened up behind her, and despite her spider-sense, she practically jumped when she heard another voice speak to them.

"She is right though, you could use the DOOR every now and then," came a strong sounding voice with a strong Brooklyn accent.

Arachne and Spider-Man then turned to see the orange rocky face of Ben Grimm, commonly called the Thing.

"Oh come on," Spider-Man smiled behind his mask, "You know spiders will always use the windows, and besides, you gotta give the Torch something to do besides burn the carpet."

The Thing chuckled slightly at Spider-Man's humor and then stepped aside.

"Come on in," the Thing said politely, "Stretcho's workin' on something in his lab. I guess it's him you want to meet with?"

"It's just a really small favor," Spider-Man shrugged.

"Care to say what this favor is?" the Thing asked, "The last favor you asked us for, ended up with me fighting some weird super-Skrull… that you lost when it was all over."

"I didn't lose Ethan," Spider-Man insisted, "He said he wanted to put his 'healing power' to good use and left."

"Do you know where he is?" the Thing asked.

"Exactly?" Spider-Man asked back, "I have no idea where he is."

"Then you lost him," the Thing answered.

"Is there a point to this?" Arachne asked, "The guy may have left, but he turned out to be a good person."

"He was a Skrull sent to conquer Earth," the Thing said, "The fact that the programming failed does not make him 'good'. And I don't want to end up doing another favor like that one."

"Then you can relax," Spider-Man responded, "The favor I need involves a little scientific work. You don't need to go anywhere."

"I hope you ain't takin' shots at my intelligence, web head," the Thing grumbled, "the Air Force doesn't accept dumb people."

"If you want to help with all the science stuff, I'd be more then happy to let you help," Spider-Man offered.

"No thanks," the Thing vigorously shook his head and then turned to Arachne who was bringing up the rear of the group, "Say, you're the new hero on the block, ain't ya? Arachne right?" the Thing asked.

Arachne nodded.

"Any particular reason for hanging around Spider-Man?" the Thing asked.

"He's been helping me with my powers," Arachne answered, "Why do you ask?"

"Nothing," the Thing answered, "Just curious is all."

They continued walking for a few minutes down a hallway that Arachne thought was clean enough to do surgery on until they came to a large door that had the words 'lab one' written on it.

"Stretcho's in there, although be careful," the Thing cautioned, "A lot of what he works with could potentially go wrong."

Spider-Man nodded and walked into the lab with Arachne following closely behind. They found what looked like some sort of miniaturized spacecraft. Reeds legs appeared to be standing underneath the craft, although the rest of him appeared to be inside the ship somehow.

"Good afternoon, Spider-Man, and miss Arachne, I presume?" came Mr. Fantastic's voice from under the ship, "I'm sorry if I got the name wrong, but we do no communicate very regularly with the Avengers. Either we're busy or they are busy, and when we do talk, it's rarely about small talk."

"Yes, it's Arachne," Arachne answered with a slight sigh, knowing that for awhile, most of the people she would run into wouldn't know who she was.

"So what can I do you for, Spider-Man?" Mr. Fantastic asked, still working on whatever he was working on with the ship, "If you need help analyzing miss Arachne's powers, I'm afraid I'm rather busy."

"No, I've been using the Avengers facilities to train her," Spider-Man answered, "I already told Ben that the favor I need isn't really all that big. What are you working on, anyway?"

"Hopefully it's a properly working spaceship that will have the ability to fly from one end of the cosmos to the other in micro seconds," Mr. Fantastic answered, "You see, a few days ago, Charles Xavier, a handful of X-Men, and part of a group of space explorers called the Starjammers crashed to Earth. Now, normally the return of heroes from Earth to Earth wouldn't be a bad thing, but what they told me is there is some sort of crisis going on in the Shi'ar Empire that they need to deal with."

"And you volunteered to build them a spaceship?" Spider-Man asked, "Were you bored or something?"

"No, but they gave me copies of the their ship's original designs and I was fascinated," Mr. Fantastic replied, "The science behind it all is amazing."

"Well, I'm sorry to stop you, then, but I would require a little help," Spider-Man commented, "If you could come out, or stretch your head out so I can explain."

They then waited for a few moments as Mr. Fantastic brought himself down to his normal proportions and came out from underneath the spacecraft.

"So what is it you need?" Mr. Fantastic asked.

"Well, I've recently had some troubles with a 'cult' called the Brotherhood of Scriers," Spider-Man explained.

"Never heard of them," Mr. Fantastic answered.

"They're not on the Galactus level of evil doers, so I doubt you've heard of them," Spider-Man told him, "They're a secretive bunch that worked of Norman Osborn awhile back. Recently, they decided Osborn betrayed them and they decided to get revenge for it. That resulted in a huge gang war that nearly destroyed Manhattan."

"And these Scriers are still out there, I take it?" Mr. Fantastic asked.

"Yes," Spider-Man nodded, "They've now changed their target from Osborn to Arachne and I. I need to be able to find out where they're operating."

"I wish I could help you, Spider-Man, but as we, the FF I mean, have never had a run in with these people, I wouldn't know where to look," Mr. Fantastic said with a sigh.

"The help that is needed is more technological rather then actually looking," Arachne spoke up.

"Yeah, I had to fend off one minor attack from them earlier today, and when they fled, I managed to get a spider-tracer on one of them," Spider-Man added, "Unfortunately, the Scriers got outside the range that I can sense my spider-tracers with my spider-sense alone. I need a device that can detect the signal better."

Spider-Man then handed Mr. Fantastic what he had assembled so far, and the leader of the Fantastic Four looked at it for a few moments.  
"It appears to me that you need some sort of 'receiver'," Mr. Fantastic commented, "Something that can pick up the signal, however faint."

Spider-Man nodded and was about to follow Mr. Fantastic over to a nearby workbench when he was cut off by another voice.

"There they are," came Johnny Storm's, the Human Torch, voice.

Spider-Man and Arachne turned to find Johnny coming toward them with his sister trying to hold him back.

"Johnny, you don't know what's going on," Susan Richards spoke.

"I do know what is going on, and I intend to make sure a friend of mine is not being taken advantage of," Johnny answered firmly.

"What is going on Torch?" Spider-Man asked from where he was standing and watched as he approached Arachne.

"Have you seen the papers lately?" Johnny asked toward Spider-Man, "Particularly the ones that have come out since your new partner has appeared."

"Not very closely," Spider-Man replied, "Has something happened?"

"So you haven't seen the rumors?" Johnny asked.

"What rumors?" Spider-Man asked back, deciding to have a little fun with his friend.

"About you and your partner here," Johnny replied, "That you're a 'couple'."

"We are," Arachne said firmly, "It's not a rumor."

"But that ain't right," Johnny turned back to her, "You're making him cheat on his wife."

"Johnny," Susan spoke trying to calm her brother down and wondering why Reed was ignoring the present altercation.

"What?" Arachne asked.

"Yeah, you heard me," Johnny answered, "You see, Spider-Man has always been a good friend of the FF and we've helped him out with a lot of stuff…"

"Generally because you guys have either the equipment or the expertise to help me with some of stuff I've run into," Spider-Man informed him.

"And and one of those events, when learned who Spider-Man is under the mask," Johnny continued, "And Spidey and I have been fairly good friends. Of course, it's natural for the coolest superhero to have friends that are also superheroes."

"And let me guess, Spidey told you about his wife?" Arachne asked.

"Yes," Johnny answered, "And I trust that Spidey would never betray her deliberately. So what are you doing to him?"

"Nothing that any wife wouldn't do with her husband," Arachne answered.

That made Johnny pause for a moment. Susan Richards looked surprised, but not nearly as surprised as Johnny was.

"You're…?" Johnny asked.

"Johnny, I'd like you to meet my wife, Mary Jane: Arachne," Spider-Man commented, "I'm sure you'd like to apologize for accusing me of cheating on my wife with my wife, if that's understandable."

"Oh man," Johnny then said sheepishly, "I am sorry, it's just that the papers didn't report enough…"

"And you flew off the hook," Susan scolded him from behind, "Hello, Mrs. Parker, I am Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman, although I'm sure you already know all that. How are things? I mean, from what we understand, you never had powers before."

"I'm about as good as I can be," Arachne answered, "And yes, having powers is a fairly new thing for me. I got them as a consequence of an attack on the Avengers Tower by two criminals, one was called Tracer and the other was the Hobgoblin. Peter has been helping me get used to all of it, and to an extent, it's been a partial relief for me."

"How so?" Susan asked curiously.

"Well, before this happened, Peter was always on his own facing very deadly foes," Arachne answered, "I would be left sitting at home with no clue as to what was going on. Now, I can be there to insure that he's safe and we can watch each other's backs, although it may have made raising a family fairly difficult should I ever get pregnant."

"Being a mother and being Arachne shouldn't be all that hard," Susan told her, "Although it would be a good idea to temporarily 'retire' while pregnant, but after the child is born, returning to 'work' isn't all that difficult. At least it wasn't difficult for me. I'll have Reed build you two a HERBIE robot if you need an extra set of hands. You just let me know when the two of you decide to start a family."

"Thanks, I guess," Arachne answered, not expecting to be getting support from the Invisible Woman, although at one time, she didn't expect to have super powers either.

"It's no problem," Susan answered, "It'll actually be good to have more married superheroes out there, and I'm sorry about Johnny. He's a bit of a hothead, but he's a good person."

"I don't mind him," Arachne answered, "To be honest, if I were in his shoes, I probably would have reacted the same way. I mean, I didn't reveal my identity as Arachne when the press found out I had appeared, so anyone that knows Peter might not know the full connection between 'Mary Jane' and 'Arachne'. I've generally tried to keep that identity secret, but… it's apparently hard to keep it secret."

"We've never dealt with that really," Susan answered, "and actually, having an open identity isn't necessarily a bad thing, although we would never force someone to what they were not inclined to."

"Yes," Mr. Fantastic finally spoke up, "although things are changing in this world. I've heard rumors about the government wanting all superheroes to 'unmask' themselves. So far it's only a rumor, but it seems persistent. And persistent rumors seem to have some truth to them."

"Well, hopefully there's no truth to these rumors," Spider-Man said, "How is the receiver coming?"

"It should be ready for use," Mr. Fantastic answered, "I don't know what the range you're looking for is, but the best one that I have can pick up any radio frequency on the North American continent."

"Pretty powerful," Spider-Man commented.

"It should allow you to find who you're looking for," Mr. Fantastic told him, "Hopefully the two of you are able to find these Scriers."

"We'll find them alright," Spider-Man nodded and moved to leave again with Arachne following "Sorry to have bothered you all."

"It was no problem," Susan answered, "It's about time Reed quit working for the day and had dinner. You provided him with the breaking point."

"If there's anything you need done to help, don't hesitate to call," Johnny called as they left, "Oh, and when you have kids, I make a great baby sitter."

"Great, the baby sitter who takes the kid out on a date with him," Spider-Man muttered.

"Chicks love guys with kids," Johnny said with a smile.

"Maybe, but a club is not the best place to take them," Spider-Man told him.

Johnny only shook his head and turned to Reed and Susan.

"I've done a good job right?" Johnny asked, "I mean, Franklin and Valerie haven't burned the house down."

"That's because Ben has been here to make sure you don't burn the house down," Susan commented with a chuckle.

Johnny sighed in defeat.

**Outside**

Spider-Man and Arachne swung away only a few blocks from the Baxter Building before Spider-Man tested the device to find his tracer. Sure enough, he got a signal from it coming in loud and clear.

"You getting anything?" Arachne asked.

"Yeah, it's coming from Jersey though," Spider-Man nodded, "I wonder why they went there?"

"Maybe secrecy," Arachne suggested, "I don't think there are many super heroes in New Jersey."

"That's probably it," Spider-Man nodded, "but according to this scanner, it looks like they've gone all the way to Newark or somewhere around there. I don't want to go that far tonight. Besides, if that's a base, they won't be expecting us to hunt them down, therefore, they won't move."

"Okay, so we head home for tonight, or patrol?" Arachne asked.

"Patrol for a little while," Spider-Man commented, "See how well your first lessons with Cap have gone."

Arachne nodded and then turned to head out and asked a question as she did so.

"One thing, Tiger," Arachne asked.

"Yes," Spider-Man responded.

"Is Johnny Storm always like that?" Arachne asked as the began webslinging through the night.

**To be Continued…**


	2. We Won, Didn’t We?

-1All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 2: We Won, Didn't We?**

**Avengers Tower**

Spider-Man and Arachne returned to Avengers Tower shortly after their meeting with the Fantastic Four to get the receiver for the device needed to pickup the signal from the spider tracer that Spider-Man had tagged one of the Scriers with earlier. Everything seemed rather quiet, and given that dealing the Scriers a finishing blow would involve leaving New York, Spider-Man wasn't too interested in wearing himself out that night.

"So they've gone all the way to Newark," Arachne commented as she pulled down her mask, "Wouldn't that mean that we really beat them?"

Spider-Man sighed and removed his own mask, "We beat them in their attempt to get Osborn, but I don't think moving their 'base' to Newark shows that they're scared of us."

"It's still a long way to make sure they don't perform some act of revenge," Mary Jane told him, "and any attempt on their part could be futile. I mean, Aunt May is well protected here at the Tower, and with recent events, it's not like anyone can just kidnap me anymore."

Peter knowingly nodded. Avengers Tower had excellent security and it would stop most intruders altogether, and would probably slow the more powerful ones down for the rest of the Avengers to stop them. That meant that the sort of kidnapping operation that Osborn had done awhile back wouldn't work again. As he glanced back at Mary Jane, her red and blue Arachne costume hugging her figure tightly, knowing that she could not be attacked easily anymore. Things had definitely changed from a year or so ago.

But the Scriers were something completely different from most of his enemies. Many of them, Osborn included, had some insane or idiotic urge to gloat in their 'victories', which usually allowed him the time to save the hostage and defeat the villain. One or two, like Venom, when the symbiote was with Brock, had a strange sort of 'honor' and wouldn't intentionally threaten his family or the innocent.

But, the Scriers were different. They were an organization, which meant they had a greater sum of resources then criminals that he most commonly faced, and unlike organized crime, they had a much tighter following. The Enforcers commonly worked for Fisk and his organization, but if Fisk wasn't doing well, the Enforcers were quick to change loyalties. The Scriers didn't do that. He also assumed that their training might allow them to bypass most of the alarm systems in the Tower, making any response to them rather sluggish at best. The Scriers also did not favor the direct approach that many of his villains did. They might simply wait until a target was in an area where there wasn't much that they could do to stop them, which put him and Mary Jane at a disadvantage if they grabbed May at a place where Spider-Man and Arachne could not respond.

"It's not that far, and they may take their time in planning their 'revenge'," Peter sighed, "and besides, they my end up hiring someone to act as a mercenary for them the way they 'hired' Fisk to go after Osborn."

"At least both of them will be behind bars for awhile," Mary Jane replied, "You know I'll be there to help in whatever way and whenever I can, but I will tell you know that I'd still prefer that we wait until they come to us."

"I know," Peter told her, placing a hand on her shoulder, "and that is partially why we're waiting until tomorrow to go after them. Newark is just far enough away that we'll need some alternate form of transportation to get there, and he last thing either of us need is to arrive at their base well after midnight and arriving dog tired."

Mary Jane nodded, "I suppose it'd be better go after them after a full night's sleep then to go after them while exhausted."

Peter nodded, "I'm just trying to be smart."

**Newark, New Jersey**

The Manhattan leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers remained hard at work as he looked through a list of files that contained a list of know enemies of Spider-Man. Most of them were in jail according to the files that he could see, and some of them were not to be trusted, and one of them, Osborn, was still on the Scrier's list of people marked 'to kill'. Of those that were free, most of them appeared to be weak and unlikely to be able to defeat Spider-Man or Arachne on their own, let alone as a team.

As he looked through the list, an aide entered the room with another series of folders.

"What is that?" the Manhattan leader asked.

"The files containing the list of other major criminals in Manhattan," the aide answered, "If Spider-Man's specific foes can not defeat him, perhaps one of these others can."

"A possibility, but I would doubt it," the Manhattan leader answered, "Besides, we can easily break some of Spider-Man's enemies out of prison fairly easily. In fact, it might be a good idea to return to one of our earlier attempts to kill Osborn."

"Sir?" the aide asked.

"I'm sure you remember the effort," the Manhattan leader, "We secretly funded the effort to procure a weapon that could easily kill Osborn, but he turned out to be as foolish as the original."

"Didn't he die?" the aide asked.

"Yes, but only the product's host," the Manhattan leader, "The other half found a new partner and according to our understanding is still stronger and faster then Spider-Man."

"Shall I send the teams we have keeping an eye on Spider-Man after him then?" the aide asked.

"Send them to inspect the various prisons in the New York area," the Manhattan leader ordered, "S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government allowed the announcement of his capture to be made, but censored where he was taken."

"Of course," the aide answered, "I will make contact with them immediately."

**Avengers Tower, Next Morning**

Mary Jane awoke shortly after eight the next morning to find Peter already up. He was standing by their dresser wearing a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt.

"You aren't planning to go running off on your own, now are you?" Mary Jane sighed as she sat up.

"No," Peter answered calmly, "I only got up about half an hour ago."

Mary Jane stretched and yawned, "I suppose it's time to get ready to go, isn't it?"

"No major rush," Peter answered, "According to the tracking device, they're still in Newark, and haven't even appeared to have moved from the location they were at last night."

"They don't know about your tracer, do they?" Mary Jane asked.

"I wouldn't think so," Peter shrugged, "but it is possible. I'll join you for breakfast when you're ready."

Mary Jane sighed and got up and prepared to get ready. She decided that it would be best to be ready to head out before eating, to make sure Peter in his rush to be proactive in stopping the Scriers did go off and do something foolish. After a few moments, she had a tee-shirt and jeans on over her costume, with the sleeves of her costume rolled up so that they were under the sleeves of her shirt. Peter had largely done the same at his dresser.

"So, how will we be getting to Newark?" Mary Jane asked, "It'd be a long way to websling."

"I was thinking a bus or something like that," Peter commented, "We buy one bus ticket to Newark, fight the bad guys and buy another one when we're done."

"What, no Quinjet?" Mary Jan asked humorously.

"MJ, you know I don't even have a license to drive a car let alone one of the Avengers Quinjets," Peter said back with equal humor.

"I ought to have you learn how to drive," Mary Jane quipped, "I mean, who doesn't know how to drive in this day in age?"

"People who can swing from buildings under their own power," Peter told her.

The two managed a weak laugh and continued on. They found May already making breakfast with the paper set out as she was doing so.

"Oh, you're up," Aunt May said sounding surprised to see them, "I thought you were going to sleep in."

"No, not today," Peter told her, "Today, we'll hopefully make sure that the Scriers can't come back looking for revenge or anything like that."

"You're sure you're not becoming obsessed over this?" Aunt May asked.

"I'm sure, and it shouldn't be all that hard," Peter answered, "I mean they're bound to have evidence that ties them to some sort of criminal plot, and without any New York 'branch', any future action they take around here will be trying to reestablish their facilities here and will be unable to worry too much about us. Besides, from what I found out yesterday, they have already decided to try and get revenge against us."

**Newark, New Jersey**

"I do not know," the Scrier Grand Master said in a fairly nervous voice, "We already used a tremendous amount of effort in order to free Fisk to find Osborn, and not only did he fail, but he was sent back to prison to finish his sentence and we were forced to abandon our base in Manhattan."

"But we would be regaining one of our earlier 'plans' to kill Osborn," the Manhattan leader urged, "And given that Osborn destroyed all the files we had on Ben Reilly, we need time to analyze Spider-Man and Arachne completely so that our agents can be trained to fight them directly."

"Need I remind you that that experiment failed," the Scrier Grand Master spoke, "Even after it found someone else, the experiment failed. It went after Spider-Man then and ignored the target we wanted it to target. And it failed to kill Spider-Man then."

"It is our only choice," the Manhattan leader urged.

"No, we can continue to observe Spider-Man and his partner until a more suitable mercenary is found, or until our men are ready to face them on their own," the Scrier Grand Master said firmly, "You are outside of New York, so I doubt he will even be looking for you."

"I fear you are wrong there, Master," the Manhattan leader replied, "One of our teams found him searching our old New York base, at least what was left of it. I fear he might already suspect that we have declared him an enemy of the Brotherhood of Scriers."

The Grand Master's face visibly sighed on the screen.

"He may be looking for you, but I doubt he is searching outside of New York for you," the Scrier Grand Master advised, "Use whatever spells you can to insure that your monitoring teams are not seen. We have the time, all we need to do is wait."

**Bus Station, Manhattan**

It was nearly ten AM when Peter and Mary Jane finally boarded the bus that would take them to Newark. There were few people on the bus, as few people in New York had reason to go to New Jersey, at least not as far as Newark, and most people had already gone into work for the day. They both moved to sit in the middle of the bus where there was plenty of distance between them and the other passengers on the bus. Once they were seated, Peter checked his tracking device.

"Good," Peter said quietly, "Still in Newark."

"You think they'd move?" Mary Jane whispered back.

"They could," Peter nodded, "After all, this Newark spot is probably only a 'fallback spot' where they went to regroup. Eventually they'll move their main base back to New York."

"They might be on their guard then," Mary Jane warned.

Peter nodded, "They still can't beat us, prepared or not. They never beat Ben and despite their training, they can't match our powers."

"I know," Mary Jane answered, "You keep repeating that part."

"I'm just trying to make sure that you feel confident in what you can do," Peter answered, "I know everything is new for you, but you've done extremely well in your training. A lot of this business is confidence, and that might be the only thing that will really require work."

"I thank you for having confidence in me, but with everything being so new for me, I don't know how I can consider myself better then people have more experience," Mary Jane said quietly.

"You will in time," Peter told her.

They then sat quietly for a few moments until a person came back and sat in the chair across the isle from them.

"Hello," the person said politely, "Do you mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all," Peter answered he put his tracking device back in one of his pants pockets, "It's a free country."

"Thanks," the person replied, "I usually make these trips every day, and I end up sitting alone for the entire trip."

"Sounds pretty boring," Peter commented, "What takes you to Newark and back to New York every day?"

"Largely crime studies," the man replied, "I look at crime levels in areas like New York where there are large numbers of superhumans, like the Avengers or the Fantastic Four, and I look at crime levels were there aren't any superhumans and compare them."

"And what have you found out?" Peter asked curiously.

"One is that many common crimes, and by that I mean crimes that one would expect the average person to be able to commit has actually been going down in areas where superhumans are active," the man replied, "Their 'patrols' catch these criminals as they start to try and rob or mug someone and they are stopped. As a result there are actually fewer people have actually fallen victim to these sorts of 'average' crimes. They still happen, but most times the 'victim' escapes without losing anything, which by my book means that the actual crimes themselves are down."

There was a brief pause before the man continued.

"And in areas where these superhumans are not present, these sorts of 'average' crimes are somewhat higher, and the percentage of how much higher depends on the effectiveness of the police force and neighborhood watch movements," the man explained, "general crime prevention stuff."

"Maybe there ought to be more superheroes in these places," Mary Jane commented, "to help the police."

"To some extent yes," the man nodded, "That would be helpful, but, at the same time, these superheroes have also attracted a large number of super villains to them, like moths to a flame. I mean, the Green Goblin hasn't attacked Newark for the entire time of my studies. He's always attacked New York and various people in it in an attempt to draw out Spider-Man."

"So you're saying that you remove the superheroes, and the super villains will just go away?" Peter asked.

"I don't think that would work now, but I do believe that the appearance of these superheroes has created the various super villains," the man replied, "The criminal known as the Radioactiveman is a real agent of the Chinese government. He was created because their government wanted an agent that could defeat Thor in case the 'God of Thunder' became a threat to China. He's since caused a lot of trouble in this country and is considered a criminal in the US, all because Thor happened to decide to protect the humans in this country. No, if Thor never came here…"

"China could have still created the Radioactiveman to be a super weapon," Peter commented, "I think your assumptions that superheroes create super villains is a bit absurd. I mean all the history books say that Captain America was created in response to the activities of the Red Skull. In that case the super villain was clearly was around before the superhero."

"I've never really consider either to be 'super'," the man replied, "I mean while both Cap and the Red Skull are considered to be highly skilled, it is not necessarily skills that any normal person can not gain through study or training. I mean, according to all reports, Spider-Man appeared and began trying to stop these average crooks, and that was a very noble ideal on his part, but soon criminals like Doctor Octopus appeared and had a seemingly deep fixation on destroying Spider-Man. The only reasonable conclusion is that without Spider-Man's existence, there would be no Doctor Octopus."

"Mister," Peter growled, beginning to sound angry, "I think your entire theory is bunk. Most super villains are the result of accidents and things that go beyond the existence of a superhero. Just because many of them show up after a superhero has appeared does not mean that the superhero cause the super villain to appear. It's like saying that television causes laziness because people watch television."

"Easy, Tiger," Mary Jane spoke to him, "He's entitled to his opinions, however wrong they may be."

"Oh, don't get me wrong," the man quickly said, "I am not against having superheroes, and I might even argue that we need them. But, I can't believe that these super villains would exist on their own without the presence of a superhero."

"Superheroes don't cause super villains," Peter said firmly, "You might be able to argue that many average bad guys became super villains in order to try a prevent themselves from being easily captured, or to escalate a preexisting rivalry, but this superheroes caused super villains I just don't buy. They don't create foes to fight for their own amusement."

"Still, I haven't seen super villains in Newark," the man replied.

"You might need to look harder in some of the places where heroes aren't active," Mary Jane commented, "They might be hiding there."

"Maybe, but if they're hiding, they aren't committing crimes, are they?" the man retorted.

"He's still a criminal," Peter told him.

"I know, but I'm following the pattern of activity," the man sighed, "I guess that's a question for a different study, if some super villains hide in out of the way areas, why don't they strike there?"

"I'd be careful, though," Peter warned, "it could be seen as an excuse to follow people in spandex, which could be dangerous."

"Don't worry, sir, I'm always cautious," the man replied.

"Well that is good to hear," Mary Jane said with a polite smile.

The rest of the short trip to Newark was largely silent, as the man showed a clear mistrust of superheroes, and Peter and Mary Jane didn't want to risk blowing their own cover. When they got off the bus, they gave the man a polite wave, and walked off. Peter and Mary Jane headed down the street until they could duck down a small alley. Once they were out of sight, their outer clothes was quickly removed and their masks and the rest of their costumes were put on.

Spider-Man and Arachne landed on the roof of the building next to them.

"You very nearly let the spider out of the web with that guy," Arachne commented.

"I know, but he really got on my nerves," Spider-Man sighed, "but I may carry a lot of guilt for stuff, but I will never admit to creating villains to fight. I've never done that."

Arachne nodded, "I agree, but I don't think you needed to near explode on him like that."

"You're probably right," Spider-Man shrugged, "I guess I need more experience with people."

"At least at being tactful with people other me, Aunt May, other superheroes, and your friends at the Bugle," Arachne told him, "but, being a loner for so long, I'd suppose that it's still stuff you're getting used to. Just like I'm getting used to my powers."

Peter nodded. He felt MJ had gotten used to her powers as Arachne, but then, even he was still learning,

"So, where are our cowl wearing friends?" Arachne asked.

"They appear to be to the west of us," Spider-Man said looking at his tracking device, although he was also beginning approach his natural range, which would increase their chances of finding the Scriers, "they still haven't moved."  
"Lead the way, tiger," Arachne smiled, "I'm right behind you."

Spider-Man nodded and fired out a webline and began to swing through Newark, with Arachne following him. He caught the surprised looks of a few people in office buildings as they went by. Many business people in New York ignored him as he went by their offices. To some extent he expected the people of Newark to ignore him as well. New York was close enough that the city's battles between superheroes an super villains would be local news, and that New York's lesser known heroes couldn't be unknown to them.

The looks of surprise made him think of something Tony and Steve were discussing. Mostly over ideas to try establish superhero teams for every state. Neither of them had any idea how to establish these teams, and the conversation quickly turned political, which wasn't Spidey's field, so he tuned it out. He hoped the two didn't fight each other.

Their pace became quicker and quicker as the closer they got, the more Spider-Man was able to sense the tracer on his own then with the tracking unit that he had rigged up. After five minutes of swinging, they landed on the roof of a common apartment building. The apartment building across the street seemed be much more extravagant.

"Do we need to make a turn?" Arachne asked.

"No," Spider-Man shook his head, "They're in that 'rich' looking one."

Arachne looked at it, "Really?"

"Spider-sense doesn't lie," Spider-Man said, "Just wonder why they'd risk losing a place like this to be Scriers."

"Maybe it's a place that Osborn bought for them before he betrayed them," Arachne commented, "Which floor are they in?"

"The one that has my spider-tracer on him is on the top floor, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get in," Spider-Man commented, "There are bound to be far more then just that one Scrier."

"I suppose it is back to air vents until we can get to their leader, or until we find some evidence against them," Arachne sighed.

"I guess so," Spider-Man sighed, and leaped onto the side of the other apartment with Arachne after him.

**Inside the Scrier Compound**

The Manhattan leader frowned as a pair of his field agents in New York finished their report.

"You lost them?" the Manhattan leader demanded.

The pair of Scriers on the telecommunications screen sighed heavily.

"Not really lost, sir," the first Scrier answered, "It's just neither has left the tower."

"They have not left the Avengers Tower?" the Manhattan leader asked, "Have you seen Peter or Mary Jane Parker leave?"

"Stark's security would not allow us to get close enough to find out," the second Scrier answered.

"Stark is a problem, but we can not fight multiple major heroes at a time," the Manhattan Leader sighed, "We will have to take solace in the fact that it would be out of character for Spider-Man to come looking around here."

"Of course, sir," the two Scriers saluted.

"I will meanwhile keep looking for a suitable mercenary," the Manhattan leader sighed and terminated the connection.

**Roof**

"You go first," Arachne spoke as she opened up on of the vents to the buildings ventilation system, "You've been saying its your tracer, I wouldn't want to make a wrong turn."

"I don't think we'll have much in the way of trouble finding Scriers here, but you're right," Spider-Man responded and climbed into the shaft, "Just remember to cling to the shaft."

Arachne nodded, "Hopefully their security here isn't any better then it was in New York."

"It probably is, although, mostly because if anyone were to try what we're doing, the Scriers want to be able to deliver their own form of justice on them," Spider-Man told her, "but they can't beat us."

The two then began crawling through the vents and looking at the floors below them. As Spider-Man thought, finding Scriers wasn't all that hard, as they appeared to be everywhere. They kept following Spider-Man's spider-sense to find the one that he had put his tracer on. They found him exercising in a gym by himself. He was going through various aspects of martial arts training.

"Shall we get him?" Spider-Man asked humorously.

"Oh but of course," Arachne responded, briefly impersonating an upper class British person.

Spider-Man chuckled and then brought his fist down onto the vent, sending it crashing to the floor. Spider-Man then dove through the opening to land in front of the Scrier. Arachne landed behind him. She quickly saw that the Scrier was startled beyond belief.

"Hello, we are the Scrier Eradication Service for the Tri-State Area," Spider-Man quipped, "We have received calls about an infestation of Scriers."

"You'll pay for your trespass, arachnids," the Scrier growled and assumed a fighting stance, "Regardless of how you found us."

"I'm sorry, but we're a little short on cash this month," Spider-Man joked, "Can we take a rain check on payment?"

The Scrier screamed in rage and lunged at Spider-Man, intending to gut the male arachnid themed hero. Spider-Man easily avoided the slashing kick. He then caught the Scrier's ankle with a webline and sent him flying across the gym. The Scrier landed hard, but remained somewhat conscious. Two more Scriers then appeared at the door before anything else could be done.

"What's going on?!" one Scrier asked.

Neither of them had time to respond as Arachne caught them both with a webline and pulled both of them toward her. Arachne then hit both of them with powerful punches that knocked both of them out. Arachne then turned to see Spider-Man approaching the Scrier that he had sent flying.

"So how many Scriers are hiding here?" Spider-Man demanded, "We know you people have cooked up some foolish revenge plot against Arachne and me."

"We occupy the entire building," the Scrier said, "You can not win."

Spider-Man then webbed the Scrier to the wall with a generous amount of webbing.

"No one armed with at most knives or swords will ever beat us," Spider-Man said firmly, "Your whole organization will be going to jail."

"So, how many do you think make up the 'entire building'?" Arachne asked as they moved in the outside hallway.

"At least one hundred," Spider-Man sighed, "Although if they occupy the entire building, they might have more then that."

"Joy," Arachne answered, sounding nervous.

"Don't worry," Spider-Man said confidently, "It'll take them awhile to organize their fight against us, and we'll take out most of them before they can."

"If you say so," Arachne responded.

The Manhattan leader of Scriers was somewhat frustrated when he was called into the lone monitoring room for the apartment building the Scriers had occupied after their defeat in New York. Cameras, while effective for security had never been popular with the Scriers. Mysticism had always been their forte, but the cameras were Osborn's idea, and while Osborn lead the Manhattan branch, some technology was added to more traditional Scrier methods. The Manhattan leader had kept these changes in the hope that they would help destroy Osborn. So far, they had done nothing that had completely worked out. They had only caught handful of attempted burglars, not Osborn. He entered the room to find the lone Scrier there looking very nervous.

"What is it?" the Manhattan leader demanded.

"We have a problem," the Scrier answered and pointed to the screens.

The Manhattan leader looked to see one or two Scriers webbed up and hanging upside down in the hallways. On one or two he saw Spider-Man and Arachne walking around and obviously searching for something.

"How many members are here?" the Manhattan leader asked.

"Only fifty eight, sir," the Scrier answered, "Most are in New York on other missions."

The Manhattan leader growled in frustration. Spider-Man and Arachne had somehow managed to avoid the dragnet he had set to follow them.

"Sound a general alarm," the Manhattan leader ordered, "They're searching for something, and something tells me it's us. Something has made Spider-Man uncharacteristically pro-active, almost as if he knows our plans for revenge."

In the hallway, both Spider-Man and Arachne jumped when a blaring alarm sounded through the building.

"Guess they figured out we're here," Arachne commented.

"Remember, their numbers won't work well in these hallways," Spider-Man told her, "and our powers should be able to deal with them easily.

The two then moved forward carefully. They were now looking for what served as the 'nerve center' for the base. Any and all evidence that they could use against the Scriers would be there. Only their lack of familiarity with the building prevented them from moving deliberately. They had surprised several Scriers in their rooms, and Spider-Man privately found it surprising that some sort of alarm had not been sounded earlier.

As they rounded a turn, two Scriers jumped in front of them armed with swords, and the footsteps of others could be heard.

"You will go no further," the first Scrier said firmly, pointing hi sword at Spider-Man.

"You have all your Brotherhood's plans on you?" Spider-Man quipped, "That was very polite of you."

The Scrier only screamed and slashed forward with his sword at Spider-Man. Spider-Man did a synchronized flip in which the Scrier's sword only slashed at empty air while Spider-Man grabbed the Scrier's robes with his feet. He then flipped the robed criminal over him and into the floor, cracking some of the wooden boards.

Arachne jumped up to cling to the ceiling as the other Scrier charged toward her. The Scrier looked frustrated at missing her with his first attack.

"Come down here and fight like a warrior!" the Scrier challenged.

Arachne smiled, knowing she would be taking a page out of her husband's book, and sent down several web strands that wrapped around the Scrier's arms, shoulders, and hips.

"How about you come up here and fight like a spider," Arachne challenged and lifted the Scrier into the air.

Arachne made sure that she put enough strength into the lift, that the target Scrier could not defend himself. He lost his grip on his sword, which flew into the ceiling far closer to Arachne then she would have intended, but was thankfully out of the Scrier's reach. The Scrier wasn't totally immobile, and he twisted in her webs to land a kick against her side. Arachne flinched slightly from the attack and dropped the Scrier to the ground. The Scrier landed hard, and Arachne took advantage of the Scrier's fall to drop down and land a kick on the robed man's stomach. That blow knocked the Scrier out from the shock and Arachne quickly webbed him up before he could get up again.

"Good job with the jab at them," Spider-Man spoke to her as they resumed walking toward the charging footsteps.

"I think I've been hanging out with you too much," Arachne responded, "Your joking is starting to rub off on me."

"Humor is a good thing," Spider-Man said defensively, "It's a good way to relieve stress and deal with…"

Spider-Man's comment was cut short as the door in front of them exploded and several armed Scrier's appeared in front of them. Several more Scriers came running from the hallway behind them. The Manhattan leader stood amongst the Scriers in front of them.

"You are very bold, Spider-Man," the Manhattan leader spoke, "To track us here."

"I wouldn't be here if you people didn't believe in stupid revenge plots," Spider-Man shot back.

The Manhattan leader was quiet as he heard this. It confirmed to him that Spider-Man knew of their vow to have vengeance on him, but he was certain that he could outwit the hero.

"You would not be in this danger if you had listened to reason and allowed us to kill Osborn," the Manhattan leader lectured, "He was a bigger threat to you then we are."

"What you wanted wasn't justice," Arachne said firmly, "You can't expect us to stand by and let a mindless act of murder occur. Osborn has received the punishment he deserved, life imprisonment for his crimes as the Green Goblin."

"Besides," Spider-Man added, "How would that have changed how you would act toward me? You're just as bad as Osborn, and you would surely try to kill me if I were to stop one of your next plots."

"But we would not hunt you," the Manhattan leader spoke, "Now we will hunt you until you die, and die you will. Despite all your powers, despite your friendship with the Avengers, we WILL kill you. There are many of us, there are only two of you, and we are the more highly skilled warriors, which is something you can not understand."

"If you were so highly skilled," Spider-Man said firmly as he wrapped the Manhattan leader's face in webbing, "You would have beaten us already, and would not require numbers to fight us."

The Manhattan leader angrily tore the webbing off of his face and angrily glared at the two heroes.

"Kill them!" the Manhattan leader screamed in rage, "Kill them!"

The Scriers then rushed forward, hoping that one of them would land a killing blow. Spider-Man and Arachne each shot out wide bands of webbing, slowing their attack down and using their spider-sense to dodge the Scrier's attacks. The Scriers rushed with swords and slashed at both of them or used a stylized knuckle guards to try and make their punches more powerful.

Spider-Man moved toward the Manhattan leader, leaping over attacks and webbing up many of them as he went over them. After one or two leaping maneuvers in which he bounced off the walls and heads of a few Scriers, Spider-Man managed to land a kick on the Manhattan leader's shoulders, knocking the robed man to the floor.

"Now it's just you and me," Spider-Man said in a challenging voice, "You win, and you'll probably kill me. If I win, you tell me exactly where you've got your plans stashed away."

"You will not win," the Manhattan leader said firmly and assumed a fighting stance.

Arachne, meanwhile, kept on the move and trying to keep the Scriers at a distance. She tried to remain serious and focused as she ricocheted off of walls and shot out strands of webbing to slow the Scriers down. She found that Spider-Man was right in his assessment of the Scrier's abilities in these hallways, which were large enough that there was room to bounce around.

Her spider-sense was continuously buzzing hard as the Scriers threw punches, kicks, and sword slashes at her, without any success on their part. They were well trained, and if it weren't for powers, they would have overwhelmed her, but, she focused on what Peter had been telling her, and what she had learned in the few training sessions she had had with Captain America so far, and that was to be confident in her own abilities. It was difficult, considering that all of the Scriers were armed in someway, an the 'superhero' business was still new to her, but as the Scriers continually proved unable to follow her to the ceiling and strike at her or get past her spider-sense when she was close enough to be attacked. This helped her confidence, that gave her more trust in her own abilities.

The fight lasted only about five minutes. The worst Arachne endured were a few glancing blows, which didn't hurt her at all. Arachne, meanwhile, landed several strong punches, or wrapped the Scriers up in webbing, leaving them stuck. She looked down the hallway see many robed men laying on the floor unconscious or webbed up. Arachne then began to make her way to where Spider-Man was.

Spider-Man's duel with the Manhattan leader was somewhat different from both his and Arachne's fight with the other Scriers. He deliberately refrained from webbing the Manhattan leader in place allowed the Manhattan leader to keep up his delusion that his martial arts training made him a superior fighter in comparison to his spider powers.

Both were silent as they fought. The Manhattan leader sent a series of kicks and punches, but Spider-Man easily deflected or dodged the punches. After a few moments, Spider-Man got tired of this and landed a powerful cross on the Manhattan leader that sent him crashing into the wall. While the Manhattan leader struggled to get up, Spider-Man turned and webbed him to the wall.

"Now, where are you storing your plans?" Spider-Man asked as he crouched next to the Manhattan leader.

"You will pay for this," the Manhattan leader vowed.

"Not at your hands," Spider-Man said pointedly, "Now, where are your plans?"

"They're in the central office," the Manhattan leader sighed knowing he'd lost the duel between them, "Just keep following this hallway, it'll lead you there."

"Now, that wasn't so hard," Spider-Man said with a smile underneath his mask.

Spider-Man then turned to see Arachne approaching, stepping over the webbed bodies of the Scriers.

"These people sure were invincible," Arachne commented, indicating to the unconscious and webbed up Scriers.

"They followed a bad plan," Spider-Man answered, "and it's allowed us to get the dirt needed to put these guys away."

"Lead the way," Arachne spoke.

The two then quietly made their way down the hallway, which spiraled toward the center of the building. They ended up at a central door that was locked tight. That in itself didn't last long as Spider-Man leveled the door with a single kick. They then walked in to find thousands of files laying across the room.

"What a mess," Arachne commented as she walked in.

"My room was never this bad when I was a kid," Spider-Man commented.

"Your room was probably never messy," Arachne answered, "Your dark room, maybe, but not your room."

They then began looking at the papers littered about the room. Most of them appeared to be maps and lists, which Spider-Man photographed with his belt camera. Eventually they came across something that looked like plans.

"This looks like the plans to spring Fisk," Spider-Man commented before his spider-sense went off.

"I will take those," came an authoritative voice spoke from the doorway.

Spider-Man and Arachne turned to see a woman with short brown hair and wearing dark blue commando gear.

"Director Hill, what are you doing here?" Spider-Man gasped.

"I find you and your green trainee in an upscale apartment building, which you've thoroughly trashed, and is filled with roughly seventy five dead people," Maria Hill spoke in a firm voice, "and you ask me what I'm doing here?"

"Dead?" Arachne asked in a shocked voice, "We left them webbed and unconscious."

"They appeared to have all taken poison," Hill answered, "You two aren't responsible for their deaths, but considering your recent activities, if you do not explain this, I will arrest you anyway."

"These guys are Scriers" Spider-Man shrugged, "A weird sort of cult that knows martial arts."

"A cult?" Hill demanded.

"Probably why they all committed suicide," Spider-Man sighed, "They wanted to kill Arachne and me and failed, and they did it to appease their masters."

"Masters?" Hill questioned.

"This was only one branch," Spider-Man explained, "The proof of it should be around here somewhere."

Hill only sighed, "Get out. I'll have a hovercar take you back to the Avengers Tower in New York."

Spider-Man and Arachne quickly left. Hill, meanwhile began pacing the room, looking very frustrated.

"Those two knew about these people for a long while," Hill spoke to herself quietly, "and I am only now learning about these 'Scriers'! How can I defend this country when information about potential threats is not being reported to me!?"

"Why did you just answer her questions like that?" Arachne asked as they walked back toward the roof, "She sounded like a snob to me."

"That was Director Maria Hill of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Spider-Man answered, "and between you and me, she IS a snob."

"It sounded like she thought us to be the criminals," Arachne commented.

"Hill has rather military mindset," Spider-Man told her, "she wants to stop the bad guys, just as we do, but as a good general, she kinda feels frustrated by heroes like me who do not report to her whenever we stop a mugger."

"So she wants to control the superheroes?" Arachne asked sounding nervous.

"Maybe not control, but she's certainly seemed to me to be annoyed that she is left out of the loop on a lot of issues," Spider-Man shrugged.

"Maybe we ought to keep her in the loop then," Arachne commented, "remember, 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'."

"Most of our villains are below S.H.I.E.L.D.," Spider-Man said with a sigh, "They might follow Venom or Carnage, because of the symbiote's powers and destructive lusts. They might observe Fisk or Osborn a little because their deviousness as leaders, and because Fisk's criminal empire is large enough that he could potentially create trouble on a massive scale. She might even follow the Scriers now because of the true size of their organization."

"I sense a 'but' coming," Arachne commented.

"But S.H.I.E.L.D. never bothered with guys like the Vulture, Hydro-Man, the Sandman, Electro, and many others," Spider-Man continued, "and when they were concerned, it was never to a degree that that really helped me."

"Seems that rather frustrating times are coming," Arachne sighed.

Spider-Man nodded, "Maybe, but with the Scriers out of the New York area, we can get back to normal. We can keep training, and soon, you'll be one of the best heroines in New York."

"You flatter me too much," Arachne replied with a weak smile.

**Himalayas**

The image of the Manhattan Scriers laying down in death faded out of a small pool of water. Slowly, the Supreme Leader of the Council of the Brotherhood of Scriers stepped away from it with a very infuriated look on his face. He turned and found one of his aides waiting behind him.

"What has happened, sir?" the Scrier asked.

"Spider-Man has destroyed the Manhattan branch," the Council leader answered, "Only the teams we have observing the area for possible mercenaries remains in the area."

"Spider-Man killed them?" the Scrier asked.

"He defeated them in combat," the Council Leader answered, "forcing them to commit suicide for their failure."

The Council Leader began walking to a separate room in the monastery.

"I must talk with the Council," the Council Leader continued, "It is bad enough that Spider-Man prevented our having revenge on Osborn, but to stop our attempt to have revenge on him is unforgivable."

**Warehouse, New York City**

A small group of Scriers kept hidden in the shadows of a warehouse that was presently empty. They had seen a news report that S.H.I.E.L.D. had shut down a cut headquarters and they quickly knew that their fallback base had been found and raided. They were now in the warehouse trying to figure out what to do.

"We need to regroup with the European branch," one of the Scriers said, "Our base has been raided, and we have no official leader."

"All the paperwork we needed to get out of country was in the fallback base," the patrol leader sighed, "We will have to wait for the supreme leaders contact us."

Almost as if on cue, the patrol leader's cellphone rang. The patrol leader quickly pulled it from inside his robes and answered it. It was the Council leader.

"I trust you know of what Spider-Man has done to the Brotherhood of Scriers?" the Council Leader spoke over the phone.

"Yes," the patrol leader nodded, "we need papers to return to the European branch."

"No, Spider-Man must pay," the Council leader answered, "You are to take command of what remains of the Brotherhood in the New York area."

"Very well," the Patrol leader answered, "We will need a new base to operate out of, and reinforcements to deal with Spider-Man."

"No reinforcements are available," the Council leader spoke, "the Council has rethought an old decision. You are to find a way to contact Mac Gargan."

**To Be Continued…**


	3. Dealing with a Venomous Scorpion

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 3: Dealing with a Venomous Scorpion**

**The Bronx**

"Come on, man," a strange looking man, with one brown and one blue eye, begged from a drug dealer inside an old dilapidated building along the river between the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx, "Gimmie that China White."

"Freak, you ain't paid up for the drugs you soaked up last week," the dealer answered, "I ain't givin' you anything till you pay up, and if you keep beggin' you'll be paying for this week's supply in advance."

The addict lunged forward, dropping to his knees as he did so.

"Come on man," Freak answered, "I need that China White! I need it bad!"

"And I need your money, now pay up!" the dealer ordered and began to wrestle with something under his coat, producing a handgun, "Or I'll bust you up good and take whatever you have that I can sell."

Freak then gulped in fear as he didn't want to die, when the door suddenly flew off its hinges and landed between him and the drug dealer. Both then looked up to see several men dressed in black robes standing in the doorway. Their skin, what little they could see of it looked awfully white. Freak immediately backed away, sensing that these guys were dangerous.

"What the…?" the dealer spoke in surprise as the Scriers entered the room, "Who the hell are you?!"

"The new owners of this building," the lead Scrier spoke in a cold voice, "You will remove yourselves immediately if you value your lives."

"What about my China White?" Freak asked nervously.

"You had best seek you foul addictions elsewhere," the lead Scrier answered him, "Now, do I need to repeat myself?"

"No, sir," Freak said quickly and ran out the door as the Scriers moved aside to give him an exit.

The Scriers then turned to face the dealer, who had only changed targets for his handgun from Freak to the Scriers.

"I don't know who you freaks are, but that man owes me a lot of money," the dealer growled.

"And if you wish to live to collect on his debts, you will leave now," the lead Scrier said firmly, "We will not ask you again."

The dealer only answered by pulling the trigger on his gun. Unfortunately, the lead Scrier moved far faster then he thought possible and by the time he had completed his squeezing of the trigger, his hand had been deflected upward, and his shot went harmlessly into the ceiling above them. The lead Scrier then pivoted on one foot and delivered a kick that sent the dealer flying into the far wall of the room. As he struggled to pull himself up, the lead Scrier grabbed him by the neck.

"Fool," the lead Scrier said to the drug dealer as another Scrier crushed the man's neck with a single blow.

The lead Scrier then threw the dead body toward the door.

"Dispose of him," the lead Scrier ordered, "the rest of you are to clean this building out and remove all the drug paraphernalia you can find. Our brotherhood does not run on such substances."

**Avengers Tower**

"Ouff!" Steven Rogers, the hero known as Captain America grunted as he bounced off the wall of the 'gym' that was part of Avengers Tower.

His sparring partner at the moment turned from her position and moved closer to him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Mary Jane spoke quickly, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Steve answered, "The room is padded to help prevent anyone from getting hurt while training."

"Yeah, but it probably isn't a good idea for me to throw my teacher around the room," Mary Jane answered him.

Events had seemed to calm down since she and Peter had finished off the Scriers in Newark as Arachne and Spider-Man. The work on the play was progressing along well, and they would be ready for their first performance in a week or two. In the meantime, she and Peter hadn't come across anything more then a common street criminal on their patrols, and she continued to train in some basic form of martial arts to help her deal with more super powered criminals more effectively.

"You mastered the move," Steve answered, "and I think you don't truly 'need' any more. It's good that you've been willing to train with your husband and even asking me to help. But you have good control and with your powers, knowing the military training I received in hand to hand combat by heat isn't necessary."

"But what about those that have more training?" Mary Jane asked.

"Most of the heroes that rely on martial arts training rely on it because they do not have any superhuman powers that can help them," Steve told her, "From what Peter's told me, you're just as strong and just as fast as he is, in addition to sharing several other powers. The training helps, but by mastering your powers, you'll probably do well against most villains that your husband traditionally runs into, and continued experience will help against the rest. My lessons may even help a bit."

"I just want to make sure I know what I'm doing, considering that I'm still paving new roads so to speak for me," Mary Jane told him.

"And you're doing a good job," Steve nodded, "I'd think that I'd agree with Peter is that all you need is time to get 'comfortable' with all of this."

"And you believe I've mastered everything I need?" Mary Jane asked.

"All the basic moves that I know," Steve nodded, "You might now be able to give your husband a real run for his money when you spar against one another."

"Thanks for everything," Mary Jane told the star spangled avenger.

**The Bronx**

The Scriers carefully gathered inside their commandeered building and each one of them gave a collective sigh. The building was of very poor quality and any attempt to improve it would take time and require large sums of money, which for the moment they lacked. On top of this, their primary mission was to destroy Spider-Man and Arachne, and unfortunately the two spider themed heroes had bested them and there were now only ten Scriers left for the entire New York area. They could not afford to tangle with them again.

The new leader of the group slowly cleared his throat to speak, "I'm sure the Council will provide us with the funds needed to turn this dump into a real base of operations, but in the meantime, we have important work to do."

The other Scriers nodded.

"The Council has authorized the resumption of an earlier failed experiment," the new Manhattan Leader spoke, "and we are to contact Mac Gargan. Any information that can be presented about where he is and how to go after him, will be helpful."

"According to our files he is the criminal known as the Scorpion," one of the Scriers commented, "and that needs to be updated as he has bonded with our symbiote. According to the news channels, he's in Riker's right now for kidnapping Parker's Aunt."

"Yes, as part of Osborn's last great scheme to kill Spider-Man," the new Manhattan leader grumbled, "the man always did play more then do any real actual work."

The Manhattan leader then turned to the others.

"Is there any way we can get there without arousing suspicion?" the new Manhattan leader asked.

"I'm afraid not, sir," a different Scrier spoke up, "Ever since the Raft break out and our breaking Fisk out of Riker's, security there has been tightened. We'll probably have to fight our way in. Thankfully that is possible if we all go."

"And Gargan can help us fight back out again," a third Scrier commented.

**Avengers Tower**

Peter, meanwhile, was focused on looking over the photographs he had taken of the 'evidence' of the Scrier's plans, hoping to learn a little bit about them and what they were planning. He was certain they wouldn't cause him any more trouble, but it might be good to get an idea of what they were working on. Unfortunately, the photographs didn't help him much as several of the Scrier's plans were in folders, and all he had was the outside, and on many of the others, the plans were written in fine print. And of course, he didn't have an easy straight on view of each set of plans, so the small letters were distorted by the angle that his camera had taken the picture of them.

"No one ever said life was perfect," Peter sighed and tried to transfer the photo images onto a computer, hoping that the computer technology would be able to straighten everything out.

Peter was thankful that the technology in the Avengers Tower was advanced enough that he only had to press one or two buttons to do all the sorting. As he set the photos in the device he stood up and stretched. It would take time for the computer to sort everything out, and he wasn't sure that he would be able to get everything. That made him wish he could have picked up the paper plans themselves, but he was certain that Maria Hill wouldn't have let him do that. He was privately certain she though he was too stupid to read anything.

He simply put that out of his mind. It would be dinner time soon, and he didn't want to be concerned with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director, who he didn't think was really all that dangerous to him. He found Aunt May setting out a pot roast as he entered the dinning area.

"Smells good, Aunt May," Peter said as he walked in.

"It should be, you've always liked it before," Aunt May commented, "How was your day?"

"Pretty good, no major crime in the city that I could find," Peter shrugged, "I'm mostly tinkering with the photos that I took of the Scriers's plans and stuff."

"You're not obsessing on them are you?" Aunt May asked suspiciously.

"I more curious then anything else," Peter answered, "The Scriers are beaten. If there are any still in the New York area, they aren't a threat to anyone and by the time they are, they will have forgotten all about trying to get revenge on me and MJ."

"So why are you trying figure out what their plans were?" Aunt May asked.

"Curiosity," Peter sighed, "I sorta want to see what I've stopped."

"I trust you're not letting this consume all of your time?" Aunt May questioned as Mary Jane entered the room.

"Letting what consume your time?" Mary Jane asked.

"Looking at the plans that he photographed from the Scriers," Aunt May told her.

"It's just something I've been doing to satisfy my own curiosity," Peter tried to defend himself.

"Well, remember that you have school to teach tomorrow," Mary Jane reminded her husband, "So you can't go off studying them all night."

"Yes, dear," Peter answered in a submissive voice, "So, how was your day?"

"Pretty good," Mary Jane answered, "We're getting close to being ready for dress rehearsals for the play and Steve thinks learned all I can from him in terms of what to do."

"So, you mastered the kung-fu?" Peter asked, making hand gestures with his knife and fork.

"Not mastered, but I know how to do it, and that all I need is practice," Mary Jane told him, "and with the Scriers beaten and no other major foe out there, all I'll have to practice on are common criminals. Unless you want to spar with me."

"Not tonight," Peter sighed, "I don't want to end up going in to teach with a black eye."

"But you're perfectly willing to go out and search for some bad guy if you know that one of them is up to something," Mary Jane commented.

"Come on, that's different," Peter commented, "You know that those bad guys could do far worse if they aren't stopped."

"I know," Mary Jan smiled, "I'm only teasing."

**Riker's Island**

Mac Gargan sat alone in his cell with a pleased smile on his face. He didn't like being in prison, but the cell he was in was for only the most powerful super villains that were incarcerated in Riker's. And he liked the 'respect' that got him. In the past, when he had been the Scorpion, after being defeated by Spider-Man, he was stripped of his armor and weapons and sent to an average cell. Now that he had the Venom symbiote, he was in a stronger cell, and from his point of view was considered more dangerous, and he liked being dangerous.

"Hey there, man, we don't want to hurt you," Gargan yelled through the force field window that allowed him to look out and a guard to look in, "we just want to gnaw on your skull for awhile!"

The guard standing outside ignored him.

"Come on!" Gargan yelled again, "Quit ignoring me! Shake in fear or something!"

"I have no reason to be afraid of a many behind three inch thick titanium walls and an electronic force field that would burn your symbiote to ashes if you tried to go through it," the guard answered coldly, "now shut up. I'm tired of listening to you brag about how you're 'Venom' now. Whoop-de-do."

"You wouldn't say that if I were out there," Gargan growled.

"But you're not," the guard answered, "Now, shut up."

Gargan silently growled to himself and walked back to the bench that doubled as his bed. He then silently added 'my prison guard' to a short list of people he wanted to kill as Venom as soon as he got out of jail. In fact the only two names on the list at present were 'my prison guard' and Spider-Man. It wasn't a long list, but Gargan actually preferred it that way.

Outside the prison, the ten Scriers moved up close to the wall and moved toward the main gate. Each one carried a short sword and various spy type equipment that they would need to break into the prison. They moved quickly and tried to remain in the shadows. Once they got to the gate, they knew that they could no longer remain hidden.

"Remember," the new Manhattan Leader spoke, "Move quickly and do not allow them the opportunity to strike. Gargan will deal with any other policeman that try to stop us on our way out."

The others nodded and quickly prepared to move. The new Manhattan Leader started the attempt by throwing two gas grenades into the closest watch tower, and the following 'explosion' of smoke quickly filled the small watchtower and forced the guards in it to leave. The Scriers then sprung into direct action. Using ropes and grappling irons, they scaled the wall of the prison and landed inside the 'yard' of the prison and quickly ran for the main gates that lead to the interior of the prison.

Alarms sounded as they reached the gate to find it locked tight, and several of the other Scriers could see that the other guard towers were preparing to fire on them.

"Can you cut their lock?" one Scrier asked as he was forced to use his sword to deflect a bullet fired at him.

"They're fools who think science is the best weapon," the new Manhattan Leader said confidently and took a slash at the gate with his sword.

The gate then opened as the new Manhattan Leader's sword had cut through the lock. They then rushed in to find two guards rushing forward with nightsticks drawn. The first was killed when a Scrier swung his sword at shoulder height and the other was disarmed by the new Manhattan leader, who used his sword to cut his nightstick in half and knocked the guard to the floor with a sweeping kick. He then placed the tip of his sword to the man's neck.

"Where is Mac Gargan?" the Manhattan Scrier leader demanded.

"He's in the central area," the guard gulped, praying silently that he wouldn't be killed, "Maximum security."

The new Manhattan leader then kicked the guard knocking him unconscious.

"Let's go," the lead Scrier ordered.

Gargan, meanwhile listened to the alarms wail through the facility. He could guess that someone was being 'broken out', but he could only guess at who. He curiously looked out the 'window' to his cell, hoping to get a look at whoever had entered. After a few moments, he saw several men wearing black robes appear from down the hallway and moving toward his guard.

The guard pulled out a sonic blaster type weapon that had been made to stop the Venom symbiote and fired it at the men. The concentrated blast of sound waves knocked one of the robed men back, and Gargan recoiled in pain, as the noise reverberated through the walls and into his cell, but it didn't stop them. A different robed man managed to get close enough with his sword to slash through device. As Gargan recovered inside his cell he watched his guard fly into the outside of the window to his cell and then fall to the ground.

"Greetings, Scorpion," one of the men spoke outside his cell.

"I'm VENOM now!" Gargan growled as he pulled his symbiotic costume out from underneath his skin.

"Yes, of course," the robed man answered, "We are Scriers, representatives of the Brotherhood of Scriers, and we have a proposition for you."

"We're listening," Gargan answered.

"In exchange for your freedom, you must kill Spider-Man and Arachne," the lead Scrier spoke.

"Arachne?" Gargan asked.

"Spider-Man's present partner," the lead Scrier told him, "A female with red hair. Both she and Spider-Man are to die."

"I'd do that for free," Gargan answered, "if you just let me out."

"Very well," the lead Scrier answered, "Your aide will be required in battling our way out of this prison. Then we will lead you to our headquarters where we will explain everything."

**Avengers Tower**

Peter and Mary Jane settled down peacefully for night as they turned on the local news to see what was going on in the world. The day had been calm for them and almost a real day off. As the news came on, they were greeted with a story that suddenly erased all hope that things had been peaceful.

"Earlier this evening, the prison of Riker's Island was the victim of a direct assault and breakout of the criminal Mac Gargan, currently known as Venom," the reporter spoke, "this is the second time that someone has attacked Riker's Island, with the first being the attack in which Wilson Fisk was kidnapped from his cell some months ago. Now Fisk has been returned to his cell, but now Gargan has been broken out of Riker's which will potentially raise the level of danger that New Yorkers currently face."

"What is being done to find Gargan and the people that sprung him now?" a studio reporter asked.

"Police have begun a frantic search, and have found no sign of Gargan, or his rescuers," the reporter answered, "We urge that everyone remain calm, but also urge that everyone take the necessary precautions."

"What about what is being done concerning the attacks on Riker's Island?" the studio reporter asked.

"That is currently under investigation," the reporter answered.

Mary Jane then sat back into her pillow and sighed heavily.

"I suppose you'll be looking for him tomorrow," Mary Jane sighed as she looked over at Peter.

"After my school day is done," Peter sighed, "It's too late for me to go out now, not without being miserable tomorrow morning, and it's also too late to call the school to ask for a substitute."

"And I have rehearsals tomorrow," Mary Jane told him, "and even if I didn't, I'm not confident about going after Venom alone."

"Don't sell yourself short," Peter commented, "Gargan was never really that great a threat to me and the symbiote's greatest advantage over me is the fact that my spider-sense can't detect it, which I think has something to do with when I wore it. Just because Gargan is 'Venom' now, it doesn't mean that he isn't a loser anymore, and besides, you never wore the symbiote, therefore, your spider-sense should detect him."

Mary Jane sat silently for a moment.

"The only reason that I'd prefer that we capture him is that hopefully we can separate him from the symbiote and let S.H.I.E.L.D. or somebody find a way to dispose of it permanently," Peter continued, "Gargan is harmless. Really."

"Overconfident are we now, Mr. Parker?" Mary Jane asked.

"It's the truth," Peter answered.

"Uh-huh," Mary Jane replied, "After my rehearsal, I'll meet you on the roof of the building across the street from the school. Okay?"

"Right," Peter nodded.

The next morning was a swift one. Peter was up fairly early and quickly got dressed for work. He kissed MJ's cheek before leaving her to sleep for a little while longer. He then quickly ate breakfast and left for work. Mary Jane didn't wake up until he was in the elevator to go down to the ground floor. As she came out into the kitchen, Mary Jane found Aunt May and Jarvis eating breakfast.

"Morning," Mary Jane greeted them, "You two okay?"

"We're fine, dear," Aunt May answered her, "I'm afraid Peter's already left though."

"I assumed that he would on a day that he is teaching," Mary Jane answered, "and with Gargan on the loose we might be a little late in getting back today."

"I take it the two of you will be searching for him then?" Jarvis asked and after Mary Jane nodded, he added, "I'll let the other Avengers know of your plans."

**Midtown High School**

Peter found the school day to go fairly peacefully, which is just how he liked it. His morning classes went by without any trouble and he soon found himself seated at his table in the lunchroom eating the day's school lunch. It was one of the few things he disliked about being in school again, but it was certainly better then going nine rounds against the worst villains he had ever faced. After a few moments, he looked up to see Flash approaching with a woman he recognized as the new school nurse following him.

"Hey, Flash, how's phys ed going?" Peter asked, "anyone looking to be a champ yet?"

"It'll be years before I get the program working again," Flash groaned, "Especially since I need to comply with all these new rules they've come up with."

"Now, now," Arrow spoke, "Those rules are there for a reason."

"I know," Flash answered, "but it will take a lot of time for full progress to be made."

"Well, hopefully everything works out well for you," Peter commented, "I'm sure it would excite everyone to see the school doing well again."

Flash nodded and sat down with his food and waited for Arrow to sit down next to him. The two had been dating for awhile now, although, Flash still occasionally asked Peter for ideas on how to impress her. He was happy that he had found someone, and at least glad that Flash had decided to be friendly with him. That way, Peter could try his best to update Flash on his life since high school, or at least as much as he could. It was the only thing that Peter could think of to deal with Flash's amnesia. Everything else he had tried had failed, and while Flash's amnesia hadn't caused any serious problems, yet, he decided it wouldn't be worth it to push trying to hard to get him to seek treatment. Especially since he didn't know how much official treatment would actually help.

"So, how have the two of you been doing?" Peter asked politely, "I mean, surely you must be tired of hearing how Flash single handedly saved Midtown's team when he went here as student."

"He does overstate his achievements," Arrow answered, "but I guess it's a loveable quality. You certainly can't say he lacks confidence."

"You should have seen him before he asked you out," Peter chuckled, "He…"

"That's enough of that," Flash cut him off, "Being confident is a good thing. Let's just leave it at that."

"Okay," Peter nodded, "We still have our afternoon classes to teach anyway. Can't chat and small talk too much."

Peter liked his afternoon classes best. Most of the kids in the morning classes were still half asleep, and continuously made him wonder if they were still up, even after he had finished his rounds as 'Spider-Man' on some nights. Of course, the afternoon classes were also excited about the end of the school day, but they were at least fully awake and Peter could at least try to keep them focused on the lesson.

"Okay, class," Peter began his class, "today we're going to finish up what we got to last time on the pH scale. Can anyone remember what 'pH' stands for?"

"Percent hydrogen," one of his students answered.

"Very good," Peter answered, "Now, I'm going to trust you all remember how the pH scale works in its representation of acids and bases. I'm now going to demonstrate how they interact with one another."

Peter then brought up two beakers from a shelf and placed them on the table in front of him. He then set a third beaker between them.

"Now, acids and bases are on opposite ends of the pH scale," Peter continued, "and when a strong acid meets a strong base, the two will balance out to make water, which is neutral on the pH scale. A weak base or a weak acid will only lessen the effects of a strong acid or base, and thus, more of a weak acid or base must be used to neutralize a strong acid or base…"

"So are you saying there needs be two of you to stop us?" a deep voice questioned from outside the door before the school's principal was thrown through it, knocking the door down and upsetting Peter's demonstration.

The damage that was being done to the table and the floor was soon unimportant as Peter moved to check on the principal and look to see who had spoken. The principal was fine, for the moment, if he was unconscious, but that wasn't the main thing. The person who had thrown him through the door was Venom as Peter quickly recognized the black and white suit, even in its new design, the Venom symbiote was easily recognizable.

"Venom!" Peter spoke in shock, with some fear for his students evident in his voice.

"Yes, it is us, Spider-Man," Venom said pointedly, "Or should we call you Parker at the moment? We've never been straight on how you people like to call yourselves."

This only terrified the frightened students more.

"You've gone nuts," Peter accused, and knowing he'd have to lie to protect his identity, "attacking a school full of innocent kids and calling me 'Spider-Man'."

"Oh of course," Venom smiled, "but then, that's the point isn't it?"

Venom then lunged over the table and Peter only just barely rolled out of the way with the principal in his arms.

"Get out of here!" Peter ordered to the other students, "Quickly!"

Peter then quickly handed the unconscious principal to a couple of male students.

"Take him with you," Peter instructed, "I'll try to hold him off."

"But that's a super villain, man," the student answered.

"Yes we are!" Venom announced as he grabbed Peter from behind, while his class fled the room, with two male students dragging the unconscious principal out.

Once the students were out of the room, Peter focused his attention on Venom.

"You're sick, Gargan, you know that?" Peter growled as he elbowed him, "There are innocent people here."

The blow made Venom stumble back a few steps, but the only important thing was that it made him release his grip on Peter.

"There is your problem," Venom answered, "You think we're like Brock. Torn between killing you and protecting the innocent. We aren't. The innocent are far to easy a target for us!"

"Well, isn't that just dandy," Peter growled as he moved into a portion of the room where the security cameras in the halls wouldn't catch him changing into costume.

**Theater**

Mary Jane settled prepared to head for a nearby bathroom to change into her Arachne costume. She didn't want to use one of the dressing rooms as she was certain that she couldn't sneak that far through the building without being spotted. The bathroom, however, was near an exit. She felt she could sneak a few steps.

The rehearsal had gone well, as she had expected them to. So far, the peaceful atmosphere that had settled on New York since the defeat of Fisk and the Scriers had made balancing being Arachne and being an actress fairly easy. Although there was a feeling in the back of her mind that dealing with Venom would soon do as much damage to her life, as being Spider-Man had complicated Peter's life. She hoped that feeling was wrong though.

She ran into Chloe as she neared the door to the bathroom. The other actress looked concerned about something.

"You okay, Chloe?" Mary Jane asked as she got within talking distance.

She jumped slightly but soon nodded, "Oh, I'm fine. It's just that I just saw a news report on the 'break room' TV that can't be good. Apparently Venom has attacked a school in Midtown."

"Midtown…" Mary Jane spoke, suddenly on full alert.

"Yeah," Chloe answered, "The news reporter said they evacuated the school, but the guy seems to have fortified himself inside it, and may even have a hostage."

"Oh man," Mary Jane gasped, now certain that she had to get down there.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I can't stay and talk, but I have a dental appointment in half an hour and I need to get going," Chloe told MJ and hurried out the door.

Mary Jane then ducked into the bathroom and began to change into her costume. Arachne was soon web slinging as quickly as possible toward Midtown High.

**Midtown High**

Spider-Man ducked down as Venom threw another table at him from inside an emptied classroom that their battle had moved into. He was eternally grateful that one of his students had pulled a fire alarm, getting everyone else out. That way, his fight with Venom wouldn't be directly endangering students. Of course, the fact that Venom had attacked him while he was in civilian attire and while his students were present was not something that he wanted.

But then, as Gargan had said earlier, he wasn't Brock. Brock had always seen himself as a victim, innocent, and thus, he could deal with Brock fairly easily. Brock rarely fought him where he would deliberately endanger someone innocent, which many times both he and Brock could agree on who was innocent. Of course, Brock took even the slightest offenses pretty hard and as a result, there were many that Spider-Man considered innocent that Venom did not, and there were also a few that while they weren't innocent in Spider-Man's eyes, he never thought they were deserving of the 'punishment' Venom wanted to hand down to them.

Gargan was different, and he guessed he would have to get used to one of his most dangerous, and yet also one of his 'pushovers', to go after innocents.

"Hold still!" Venom roared as Spider-Man back flipped and landed on the ceiling of the room.

"Why?" Spider-Man taunted, "Give me one good reason for me to stand still."

Spider-Man had quickly decided to exploit another of Gargan's weaknesses. Gargan assumed that because he ha gained Venom's powers he was now invincible and that nothing should be able to even escape him. He thought he could win the fight with an easy one punch knockout, and not even Brock had ever been quite that powerful. As a result of his overconfidence, Gargan was bound to make mistakes that would give Spidey an edge in the long run.

Venom leaped up with the intention of driving his fists through the section of the ceiling that Spider-Man was clinging to, and through Spider-Man, himself, as well. Spider-Man barely managed to avoid that fate, and Venom ended up driving his fists into the ceiling. Spider-Man bounced back of the floor and landed a kick against Venom's midsection that drove the rest of his body into the ceiling. He hoped that the electrical wires in the ceiling would give him extensive electrical burns and separate the symbiote from Gargan, but he had no luck in that regard. Venom landed on the other end of the room and looked extremely angry. He grabbed a couple of student desks and then threw them at the webbed avenger.

"Great," Spider-Man grumbled as he dove out the door and back into the hallway, "I am not getting paid well enough for this."

Venom was close behind him.

Outside, Arachne found a great deal of confusion outside the school. The police had arrived and set up barricades, but no one that she could see had anything that might be a threat to Venom. Deciding to take the direct approach, she hopped down from the side of a building across the street and landed just behind one of the police cruisers.

"Is anyone still in there?" Arachne asked, surprising both of the cops near her, making them jump.

"What are you doing here?" one of the cops demanded, eyeing Arachne suspiciously.

"I saw on the news that the criminal known as Venom attacked this school," Arachne answered, "He's one of my partner's greatest enemies, and you're asking me why I'm here? I'm here to stop him? Now, is there anyone still inside?"

"We're pretty sure Venom still is," the other cop answered, "the only potential hostage that is in there is a science teacher, although we think Venom's already killed him. We're mostly waiting for that freak to come out."

"You do know that hand guns aren't dangerous to Venom, right?" Arachne asked.

"It won't kill him, but surely it'll slow him down long enough for us to cart him away," the first cop commented.

Arachne sighed, "I'm going in. Call S.H.I.E.L.D. or somebody who has more experience in restraining super powered criminals. Your bullets won't stop Venom and cuffs won't hold him. By the time he's down they'll be here."

Arachne slowly began to walk towards the school's front doors. She was then surprised by something she heard one of the policeman say from behind her.

"Go for it, Arachne!" the cops cheered.

That made her sigh. If Peter had been beside her in costume, they would have shot at him. It privately made her wonder why so many people liked Arachne and hated Spider-Man. It was weird.

Spider-Man, meanwhile was still trying to find a way to stop Venom as quickly as possible. Venom continued to overestimate his own ability that allowed him to land some good blows on him, but they did not do Venom any serious harm. Eventually, Venom landed a swinging punch that sent him flying into the school's glass trophy case.

"We have you now!" Venom said triumphantly and was prepared to stamp the life out of Spider-Man when a new voice cut him off.

"Oh no you don't," came Arachne's voice from the other end of the hallway.

Venom turned to see Arachne coming down the hallway. She fired a webline that caught his arms, and Venom soon felt him pull on the line, pulling him back.

"You certainly now how to get in trouble, tiger," Arachne commented to Spider-Man as he recovered and got up.

"Well excuse me for being a popular target," Spider-Man quipped back.

Venom then looked at both Spider-Man and Arachne as they took up positions on either side of him.

"I'm going to kill both of you, so it doesn't matter that you're both here," Venom growled.

"Very good then," Spider-Man shrugged as he leaped up, bounced off the ceiling and landed a strong kick on Venom's chest while Arachne dropped low and took his feet out from under him.

The blows took him to the ground, and before he could recover, Spider-Man began wrapping him up in webbing. Spider-Man then used his webbing to throw Venom into a wall. That disoriented Venom, and he wasn't prepared for what happened next. Arachne came first, landing a blow to his gut while Spider-Man followed with a kick to the face, knocking him out. Venom landed hard and on his back when they were done.

"See," Spider-Man commented, "No problem."

"Yeah, you've practically destroyed the school," Arachne retorted, "and he was about to kill you when I arrived."

"I would have got away," Spider-Man answered back.

"Well, the police believe you're dead," Arachne told him, "And they don't know that Spider-Man is here. You might want go and get changed back into your civilian cloths before heading out."

"So will you explain beating him all by your lonesome, then?" Spider-Man asked in an almost teasing voice.

"I'll say he did something stupid, like throwing a punch he couldn't land and he ended up punching through a electrical wire or something," Arachne answered, "He's done enough damage that he must have done that somewhere. You can simply say that for you it had been a running fight. You running for cover and throwing obstacles in his path. That might explain all the damage."

"I guess," Spider-Man sighed.

Outside the police watched nervously from behind their cars. One S.H.I.E.L.D. agent had arrived in a hovercar with a set of electro-cuffs and some large blaster type weapon, but that was it. That didn't give them much in the way a confidence, but it was the best they were going to get. They were preparing to go into the school and deal with Venom, themselves, when suddenly, the doors opened, revealing Arachne helping a man walk out of the school building and dragging the webbed up and unconscious Venom behind them.

As they approached, Arachne slowly helped the man forward.

"Here is the man you thought Venom killed," Arachne spoke.

"What happened?" one of the policemen asked.

"He appeared to lead Venom on quite a chase, although the crook ended up destroying much of the school," Arachne told them, "It's a miracle he survived."

"I'll say," a second policeman answered and motioned that they would take Peter and help him to a curb to be looked at.

"Meanwhile," Arachne spoke as she lifted up Venom, "We need to separate him from the symbiote and find out who broke him out of Riker's."

"And why do you need to know?" the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent asked suspiciously.

"Because whoever broke him out had to be fairly powerful," Arachne answered, "Thus, it may require a hero to deal with it."

"You'll need to wake him up first," the first policeman pointed out.

"Don't worry," the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent replied, "He'll probably wake up once we begin taking the symbiote off of him. The pain of separation and all that."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent then pulled out what looked like a small portable robotic vacuum cleaner from inside the backpack he was carrying. He placed the tube on the ground near Venom's head and set the rest of the device on the ground. He then activated the device, making a great noise that so far, didn't wake up the knocked out villain.

"You might wish to stand behind me," the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent said to Arachne as he readied the sonic blaster.

After Arachne moved, the agent fired the weapon directly onto Venom. The sonic blaster did, in fact, wake Venom up, but it had already begun to break the symbiote's bond with Gargan and was being sucked into the vacuum, along with the nearby dirt and dust in the air near it. Gargan screamed in and rolled around on the ground as the agent's sonic blaster forced the symbiote to break its bond with him. After a few moments, the agent turned the sonic blaster off and stopped the vacuum, while also sealing it up, trapping the symbiote inside.

"There," the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent spoke, "I'll be taking the symbiote for further study, you can do what you like with Gargan."

"Okay, that sounded creepy," Arachne commented and grabbed Gargan by the shoulders and lifted him into the air, "Okay… who broke you out of jail?"

"I ain't telling you anything," Gargan swore, sounding more like he was frustrated that he had lost again.

"Come now, you've already lost," Arachne spoke to him, "and I have to already be an enemy of whoever it was as they sent you to kill me. You can't be hiding anything really secretive."

"You and Spider-Man have recently been fighting them," Gargan answered back, "You should already know or at least suspect who busted me out. That is all I'm going to say."

"You'd better let us take him," one of the policemen said, "we can handle him now, and not everyone in our unit likes superheroes."

Arachne sighed and handed Gargan, who now carried an intense look of depression, to the officers and quickly swung away. She was soon headed back to Avengers Tower, where she assumed Peter was headed as soon as he could get away from his care takers.

**Scrier Base, the Bronx**

The new Manhattan leader sat quietly in what was now their planning room. Much of their work had been limited to cleaning and repairing the building they had occupied. It took awhile to remove the odor that the drug dealers had left in their wake, and it took almost as long to deal with the addicts that almost routinely came to their door expecting to get a handout. Now, all that had been cleaned up, and the building was being repaired so that it could be used as a viable base.

The plans he was working on, however, were limited to observing the actions undertaken in the hopes of defeating Spider-Man and Arachne. They couldn't do much more then that at the moment. There were too few in the New York area to engage in any of the projects that they had done for Osborn or for the Council in the past.

"Sir?" a voice spoke up, and he turned to see one of the other Scriers standing in the doorway.

"What is it?" the new Manhattan leader asked.

"I'm afraid to report that Gargan's attempt has failed," the Scrier answered, "He stormed the Midtown High School grounds as we instructed, but he failed. Both Spider-Man and Arachne beat him, and from what I could see when he was brought out, they won fairly easily."

"Brock always was better as Venom," the new Manhattan leader sighed, "but then, he would never deliberately endanger innocent children. So I guess there is a trade off."

"What do we do now, sir?" the other Scrier asked.

"I do not know," the new Manhattan leader sighed, "We had all we could do to break Gargan out of prison. Does he still have the Venom symbiote?"

"No, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent took possession of the symbiote," the other Scrier reported.

"Blast," the Manhattan leader growled, "We'll have to make contacts throughout the city. See if we can get some other villains to deal with them then or something. That will require more information and time."

"What of Spider-Man and Arachne?" the other Scrier asked, "They may deduce that some of us escaped being caught in the Newark base."

"We can not afford to lose any more to them," the Manhattan leader answered, "and contact with the Council will be scarce for the time being. We must limit ourselves to observation. We can not and must not engage them."

"Of course, sir," the other Scrier answered.

**Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane sighed as she watched Peter pace through the living room set aside for the Avengers to use. Other then her mask, she was still in costume, and her face looked extremely concerned.

"Well, at least the Venom symbiote is in custody and Gargan is going back to jail," Mary Jane spoke.

"Yeah, but he's ruined the school," Peter answered, "It'll be weeks before it's able to open again. We've got to catch the low lifes that sprung him, or else they'll cause more and more trouble."

"But Gargan didn't tell us who sprung him," Mary Jane pointed out, "We have no idea where to start looking."

"He did say that it was someone we were already fighting," Peter answered back.

"But that could be anyone," Mary Jane reminded him, "Since I've gained my powers as Arachne, we've fought the Hobgoblin, Tracer, Kingpin and his organization, the Green Goblin, the Scriers, and now Venom. That's a fairly long list of villains."

"True, but the mechanisms Tracer used to insure his immortality has been destroyed, and we have the rest of him," Peter answered, "and both Goblins have been incarcerated again, and Venom was just arrested. So that narrows everything down to either the Kingpin or the Scriers."

"But we put Fisk back in jail, and we only just trounced the Scriers," Mary Jane sighed.

"We caught Fisk, but most of his lieutenants have probably been released by now," Peter answered, "and we only beat the Scriers that were in Newark. That doesn't mean that there might have been a small number of them, supposedly on the lookout for us."

"So which is it?" Mary Jane sighed.

"Most likely the second," Peter answered, "Fisk doesn't bear grudges against someone that he'd risk something like this. Besides, the break out from Riker's had none of the Kingpin's 'touch' as it were, that leaves the Scriers."

"But we beat them," Mary Jane said.

"Only those in Newark," Peter answered, "Apparently, the rest of the organization wants to fight us and is having these last 'hold outs' find whatever super human muscle they can find to do the dirty work for them. While they try to regroup."

"So what do we do then?" Mary Jane asked, "If this small group of Scriers is still carrying on their last set of orders, they may eventually attack us directly."

"No, they're not strong enough to risk a battle with the Avengers," Peter answered, "they'll likely try to get other super villains to try and get them to fight us for them. In New York, the Scriers are nothing more then an annoyance now, at least for the time being."

The was a short silence between the two for a few moments before Peter continued.

"I'm going to keep looking at the photographs I got of their base in Newark," Peter spoke, "I might get a map or something where I can at least mark down where these last couple of Scriers are deciding to hide out, and at least get the names of some of their plans. Otherwise, I'd say that we try to live life as normally as possible."

"You're not going off the deep end on this?" Mary Jane asked.

"I can't really," Peter sighed, "Hunting down fifty people in a group is fairly easy. Hunting down one to ten people isn't. We're probably bound to run into them sooner or later anyway. The best we can do is simply wait, for now. It'll probably be a long while before everything quiets down."

**To Be Continued…**


	4. Life Goes On

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 4: Life Goes On**

**Avengers Tower**

Peter looked out of one of the tower's windows overlooking New York City and gave a sigh, half in frustration, but also touched with a feeling of success. There was some frustration because the Scriers had not taken any direct action that he noticed since their attempt to get Venom to fight for them. At the same time, Cap was very frustrated by the recent actions by the Red Skull. He and MJ had volunteered to help, but Cap had turned them down, largely saying that the Red Skull was his foe to fight. Those were the things that frustrated him at the moment.

But there were some things to feel successful about. Midtown High had been repaired from Venom's rampage, and Peter would soon be back to teaching again, although the end of the school year couldn't be that far away. And between his work as Spider-Man and MJ helping him as Arachne, things have remained relatively under control. That, for the moment gave them time to keep looking for the Scriers, so there were at least no other member of his rogues gallery that was active at the time.

"Troubles, dear?" came Aunt May's voice from behind him.

Peter turned to find Aunt May approaching him.

"Oh, not really," Peter sighed as he looked out over the city again, "Just looking out over the city for the moment, especially while its quiet."

"But those 'Scriers' are still out there, aren't they?" Aunt May asked, sounding somewhat concerned and mostly curious.

"Yeah," Peter shrugged, "but they've kept an incredibly low profile since MJ and I clobbered Gargan. Finding them is important, but most of the time, dealing with the Scriers is more likely the work of letting them find 'you', and by that I mean finding me."

"Wouldn't they have run into other people besides you?" Aunt May asked.

"If they have, its someone that accidentally stumbled on them," Peter told her, "As far as I know, other then Ben 'Reilly', I'm the hero who fought them. Which means none of them have any ideas where to look for them, and running into some guy that ran into the Scriers is unlikely. With so many people here, and so many heroes and villains, I'm more likely to run into someone who's had his car crushed by Galactus then someone who's seen the Scriers."

"But wouldn't there be some sort of hotline one could call if they've seen some super villain?" Aunt May questioned, "It seems that they're putting extra work on you."

"The Scriers come off as a religious order on the surface," Peter sighed, "If any normal person saw them, they'd likely think their some new Church or something like that. Besides, most of the people in this city seem to hate Spider-Man more then many of his enemies."

"If I could change that, you know I would," Aunt May vowed.

"I know," Peter smiled, "but stopping these Scriers will take time. MJ and I can beat them easily. All we need to do is wait until they feel that continuing to pursue 'Spider-Man' and 'Arachne' would be a waste of time. My only other real option would be to put the entire organization behind bars, which I do not have ability to do."

That made Aunt May frown. Since she had learned about and accepted her nephew's role as Spider-Man, she had taken a dramatic change in dealing with Manhattan's super heroes. She had once hated and feared Spider-Man because of the fact that he wore a mask, but, now, knowing that Peter was Spider-Man, she couldn't think of him in any other way then as her nephew. As a good boy who tried to do as his Uncle Ben would want. She had felt ashamed of her past feelings and disappointed her that so many people would choose to hate Spider-Man.

"Couldn't you get some of these guys like S.H.I.E.L.D. to help arrest them?" Aunt May asked, "Isn't that what they're there for."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is there to act as a force to counter international terrorism, and was originally aimed at many of the Neo-Nazi groups like Hydra and AIM that formed after World War II and Cap being put on 'ice'," Peter sighed, "and they see themselves as a government agency, not as some goodwill agency who wants to help everyone. Unless the Scriers present a clear threat to the globe, S.H.I.E.L.D. won't take much interest in it, and even if they do, right now, I don't think they would as me or MJ because we aren't the soldier-type hero who is likely to treat Director Hill as their superior at worst and as the greatest leader since sliced bread at best."

Aunt May sighed, "I wish people would do what is right and not play these sort of games."

"I do too," Peter nodded, "but the Scriers can be dealt with. They'll slip up eventually and their entire New York branch will fall apart. After that, they'll probably decide to back off and leave New York alone."

**The Bronx**

The new leader of the Scriers in New York sat quietly as the other nine Scriers prepared their reports on what to do concerning Spider-Man and Arachne.

"I'm afraid that practically of the foes that would stand a chance of beating Spider-Man are either in prison or are in hiding," one Scrier spoke, "and both Spider-Man and Arachne are patrolling by the major prisons, especially those that are actively holding superhumans to insure that none of them are broken out."

"We could always recreate something like the Raft Incident," another Scrier suggested, "even though it recreated the Avengers, even they working as a group couldn't stop he breakout, at least not entirely."

"The last thing we need is drawing the Avengers as a team onto us," the new leader spoke, "Wolverine could easily catch our scent and track us anywhere in the city. We would have to swim Jersey and then fly several states away. We must keep the battle small enough that the Avengers as a team stay out of it."

The others nodded.

"Is there anyone we can turn to?" the lead Scrier asked.

"There are rumors in the underworld that there is a new Mysterio out there," a different Scrier spoke, "but we have been unable to locate him or understand who he is or why he has taken up Mysterio's mantle."

"Can he be found?" the lead Scrier questioned.

"Possibly," the Scrier answered, "The rumors indicate that he is operating out of a warehouse that used to belong to one of the previous Mysterios. My team was about to investigate it, but we ran out of time before this progress meeting."

"Investigate the rumors," the lead Scrier ordered, "If this new Mysterio exists, recruit him. He may already want to kill Spider-Man so you may have to explain our position and promise our help in whatever way possible that we can help him."

"Of course," the Scrier answered.

"In the meantime, the rest of you are to search out any small time villain that might be able to at least keep Spider-Man off balance," the lead Scrier spoke, "things are going on elsewhere in the world that may make our ability to operate secretly much more difficult. We must find some way of quieting down these affairs as soon as possible, which require the death of Spider-Man and Arachne."

"At once!" the other Scriers answered in unison and stood up.

**Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane quietly returned to find Jessica Jones waiting quietly in the lobby near the elevators with an infant in her arms, which Mary Jane assumed was Jessica and Luke's daughter. The Bugle reporter gave a polite smile as Mary Jane approached.

"Hi, I suppose you're here to see Luke?" Mary Jane asked.

"Yeah, he's taken to using the Avengers' gym as his own and needs reminding about what the day's events are outside of superheroing," Jessica smiled back.

Mary Jane nodded and looked down at the sleeping baby in Jessica's arms.

"So, what's her name?" Mary Jane asked.

"We named her after a friend of Luke's," Jessica answered, "Danielle."

"An old girlfriend of his?" Mary Jane asked.

"No, but he was a good friend to Luke, so we changed it from Daniel to Danielle," Jessica told her.

"Ah-ha," Mary Jane nodded, "Well, she certainly does look cute."

"I think so," Jessica smiled and then looked over at Mary Jane with a rather inquisitive look on her face, "So, where do you stand on kids?"

"Huh?" Mary Jane asked startled, wishing her spider-sense could warn her on questions like that.

"Will you and Peter ever have any Spider-Kids?" Jessica asked as she pressed the button that would take them up the Avengers living area and the apartments that Mary Jane, Peter, and Aunt May had been given.

"I don't know," Mary Jane answered nervously, "I'm not really the mothering type and given that my new… lifestyle, it's not like I'd have a lot of time to be there for infants."

"You say that as though you might actually want kids," Jessica commented.

"Peter wants kids," Mary Jane corrected, "I'm not really opposed to having children. I won't deliberately try to get pregnant, but I'm not going to get mad if I find myself pregnant again."

"Again?" Jessica asked surprised.

Mary Jane nodded, "The baby was stillborn, and was just getting ready, personally, to be a mother, and my baby died. The Doctors never pinpointed the cause of death, and Peter blamed Norman Osborn. Maybe I'm dwelling on that too much now, but I do have some concerns that if I become pregnant again, my child might never be born, and that would destroy Peter just as much as it would destroy me."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to strike a nerve," Jessica said quickly.

"It's nothing," Mary Jane replied, "As I said before, I can't be Arachne if I'm pregnant, and Peter will never stop being Spider-Man, and will always need someone there to keep him out of trouble."

"The Fantastic Four are a clear example that superheroes can have and raise families," Jessica pointed out, "and Susan and Reed Richards aren't the only ones raising Franklin and Valerie. The Torch and the Thing do help as well, although, from what I've read in some of the celebrity gossip columns, I sometimes wonder who is raising Ben and Johnny."

Mary Jane managed a brief chuckle at the remark and then sighed.

"But there are so many heroes that haven't had that sort of luck when it comes to family life," Mary Jane sighed, "and Peter is a good example. For years, Aunt May was worn down by he stresses of worrying about Peter that she was frequently in the hospital for one reason or another. Every time he tried to be with her, some nut would threaten either him or the city and he had 'abandon' Aunt May to insure that larger numbers of people weren't hurt or killed. And some of the foes that know his identity have deliberately gone after those he loves. Osborn killed his first real love in Gwen Stacy and I've been kidnapped or threatened by many of these criminals many times. It wouldn't be exactly a family environment."

"Well, as long as Peter is an Avenger, I'm sure Stark will let you stay here and I'm sure that the tower can keep most of your foes at bay," Jessica smiled, "and I'm sure Peter's had it rough, but things always change, and not always for the worse. If you and Pete have kids, I'm sure you could make it work."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence on that," Mary Jane gave a weak smile, "but I'd suppose, it'd be best to cross that bridge when I get to it."

"Sure," Jessica answered as they walked into the main entrance way from the elevators, "I'd love to chat for awhile, but I have a husband to collect."

"Of course," Mary Jane nodded, "you've certainly given me some things to think about. Have a good day."

Mary Jane then walked down a different hallway, looking specifically for Peter. She found him inside one of the Avengers' labs looking at computer generated images.

"Any luck trying to make any sense of the photographs you took of the Scriers' plans?" Mary Jane asked.

"Not really," Peter sighed, "the computers enhance the pictures I took, which helps a little, but not enough to really tell what they were planning or where their bases are."

"So I guess we're still looking for them the old fashioned way?" Mary Jane asked.

Peter nodded, "If we could locate their bases we could simply trap them and leave them for the cops to arrest, but until then, we have to hope we can draw them out."

**Warehouse, Manhattan's Lower West Side**

A lone man practiced basic martial arts moves he had learned from watching various movies and news reports, studying the motions of the people in them. Most of the moves were either made up or slightly beyond his physical abilities, but he did find a few basic moves that could be used against his enemies. He now worked to make sure he could figure the moves out well enough that if he ended up in a physical fight with his enemies, he could put up some form of a fight. He prepared to make another turn when he suddenly bumped into someone else in the room. Someone who he did not hear enter. He backed away nervously as he was unprepared to deal with this newcomer.

"Relax, I come only to talk," the newcomer, a Scrier, spoke in a calming voice.

"Who are you?" the man asked nervously.

"I am a representative of the Brotherhood of Scriers, you may call me Scrier," the Scrier answered, "I've come to investigate rumors of a new Mysterio, Mr. …?"

"Klum," the man answered, "Francis Klum. And yes, I am the new Mysterio. How did you know that?"

"Your practicing has not gone unnoticed by the lowest of the low of this city," the Scrier answered, "my Brotherhood was easily able to guess your general location by interrogating them."

Francis silently cursed himself that he had been so careless in practicing with Mysterio's gear, as if various low level criminals it was likely that heroes like Spider-Man or the Black Cat probably noticed him as well.

"I've been working to prepare myself for the final battle with Spider-Man," Francis answered, "I must master some basic combat techniques and Mysterio's gear to put my plans in motion."

"Your plans?" the Scrier asked.

"You don't work for Spider-Man do you?" Francis questioned nervously.

"No," the Scrier answered, "the Brotherhood of Scriers seeks to destroy Spider-Man and his new partner, Arachne."

"Arachne?" Francis asked.

"The latest in a long line of 'Spider-Women'," the Scrier explained simply, "They are wanted dead by the Brotherhood of Scriers, and we thought you might be willing to help us."

"I already want to kill Spider-Man," Francis answered, "Why should I do it to help you?"

"We would be willing to help you train in combat so that you could battle Spider-Man more effectively then just copying moves from kung-fu movies," the Scrier answered noticing the television, "proper training which should be able to augment your powers and Mysterio's gear."

"You would help me?" Francis asked.

"We have the same goals," the Scrier answered, "it should be natural that we help one another. Are you willing?"

Francis jumped at the opportunity, sensing that his powers of teleportation might not be enough to beat Spider-Man.

"Of course," Francis answered, "Where do we start?"

"I will lead you to the Brotherhood's base," the Scrier answered, "there you can be properly trained. Once you've advanced enough to take on Spider-Man, you may return here and we will provide you with the intelligence needed to trap Spider-Man and Arachne, now come, let us depart."

**Avengers Tower**

Spider-Man and Arachne returned to Avengers Tower in the late evening hours after making another attempt to find the Scriers, or draw out a villain hired by them. Once again, they had no luck in doing so.

"That was a spectacular success," Peter grumbled as he pulled off his mask, sarcasm clearly evident in his voice.

"Well, we did stop a few street criminals," Mary Jane answered as she removed her own mask, "that has to count for something."

"I suppose so, in the sense of keeping the city quiet," Peter sighed, "I'd just wish we'd find a clue about where they are soon. The longer we wait for them to strike, the more likely we're going to fall victim to some sort of trick where they nail us when we're not expecting it"

"Maybe they're scared of us right now," Mary Jane offered as they made their way toward their room, "you know, chased out of New York, beaten in Newark, and now discovered again in New York. They're now hiding."

"If they're hiding, they're buying their time to rebuild the strength we've already taken from them," Peter told her, "that's why we need to catch them quickly while they're in a weaker position."

"Well, if I remember correctly, you're the one who said this would take a long time to solve," Mary Jane pointed out.

Peter then nodded.

"I know," Peter sighed, "I guess it's a little frustration and, I guess impatience on my part."

"You'll have to learn patience," Mary Jane reminded him, "Remember that Midtown will start school again tomorrow now that it's been repaired from what Venom did to it, and my play opens tomorrow night. I doubt we'll be able to do much on the superhero front tomorrow."

Peter nodded, "It's why we came back early 'tonight'. Can't enjoy you're play if I'm asleep."

Mary Jane smiled at that.

"That is if you remembered to buy the tickets," Mary Jane teased.

"Aunt May bought the tickets this time," Peter answered holding up one hand in the manner of the boy scouts, "Scout's honor."

That only elicited a few giggles from Mary Jane. Peter always had a great sense of humor, and it always relieved her in stressful moments that Peter managed to remember to use it. It was something that Mary Jane also thought would be good for a father figure.

That thought then made her stop while Peter walked into the bathroom. Ever since her talk with Jessica, Mary Jane's mind seemed to cling to the thought of children, and how it could work out between her and Peter. She then scolded herself that now was not the time to consider those things. They had the Scriers to deal with still, not to mention the fact that Peter wasn't the only one spending a considerable amount of time in spandex as well. Her admonitions didn't remove all of the memories that she had from her mind, however, and she soon remembered an instant from the past.

She remembered standing in front of Aunt May with Peter and smiling proudly as Aunt May held both her hand and Peters. Aunt May was praising them on parenthood being the greatest responsibility and congratulating Mary Jane on being pregnant. That made her think back to the baby that Osborn had taken from her, killed in a way that Osborn could never be blamed and Mary Jane sighed.

"Now is not the time for that," Mary Jane sighed silently to herself and began to get ready for bed.

**Midtown High, The Next Day**

Peter ran into Flash as he made his way up the steps to his old high school. The former Midtown High athletic star looked incredibly peppy and upbeat.

"You have a good day yesterday, Flash?" Peter asked.

Flash jumped slightly but kept smiling.

"Well, Arrow and I have been getting along quite well," Flash answered with a smile, "but that's not it."

"That's not it?" Peter asked suspicious, and then added slightly humorously, "don't tell me you've gotten used to teaching a bunch of kids that don't meet your ideal vision of an athlete?"

"I don't like the fact that those that aren't overweight and obese are scrawny, but you know what, I've come to like the teaching aspect of the job," Flash answered, "inspiring people to get in shape and be more then just kids glued to them freaky Playboxes, or whatever them video game thingies are called."

"Come on, didn't you play video games as a kid?" Peter asked.

"In an arcade, and it cost me twenty five cents to have one turn on most of them," Flash answered, "and I didn't vegge out in front of them the way kids do today."

"Are you actually inspiring any kids?" Peter asked.

"I'd like to think so," Flash answered, "I just hope the kids kept up with their daily exercises."

"Daily exercises?" Peter asked.

"It's a program I started when I saw what was wrong with these kids," Flash answered, "Nothing torturous. Just two sets of ten pushups, two sets of ten sit-ups, twenty five jumping jacks and an assortment of stretches. Just trying to get the kids in shape. That can't be wrong, can it? I mean, it might even help them out. It helped you."

Peter sighed knowing that Flash was referring to his marriage to Mary Jane.

"MJ didn't marry me because I got in shape," Peter answered, "but I guess it didn't really hurt either."

"See," Flash smiled again, "and my program doesn't necessarily affect their grades in any negative way. If they do it, I'll give them extra credit, if not, their grade isn't hurt. It's encouragement to be healthy."

"Okay, who are you, and what have you done with the real Flash Thompson?" Peter asked in a teasing voice.

"Har, har, har," Flash answered back.

**New York Street**

Mary Jane quietly made her way along one of New York's streets on her way back to the Avengers Tower after a last minute late morning rehearsal before the first performance that evening. She wouldn't be expected back there until an hour before the curtain rose. For now, she intended to return home and prepare for the play.

As she rounded a corner, she was met by a panicking group of people rushing her way. If it weren't for her spider-sense, she would have been trampled by the crowd. She patiently waited for them to move away before peeking around the corner. She saw a lone man desperately trying to get away from a figure dressed in green armor with what looked like a mechanical tail slashing at the fleeing 'victim'.

"What is this?" Mary Jane grumbled, "Didn't Peter and I just send Gargan to jail?"

She heard the victim scream and begin to run and sighed heavily. She had to stop this attacker before he killed that person. She ended up chasing after the two and ducked into an alley and quickly changed into her costume. Arachne was soon webslinging after the sound of the screams and destruction.

Arachne caught up with them about a block away and got a better look at what was going on. The man who was being chased was a freaky looking person who had one brown eye and one blue eye, and seemed to carry an aura that screamed 'druggie' to Arachne, while the attacker who was dressed the way Peter had described Gargan's Scorpion persona was, was actually a female wearing the green colored Scorpion armor.

"Please leave alone!" the man pleaded as he dove away, narrowly being impaled on the mechanical scorpion tail.

"Then pay up, Freak," the attacking woman growled and then grabbed him in her arms, "You owe every drug dealer in this country a lot of money, and the Ortegas have a huge bone to pick with you after what you did to our Bronx dealer!"

"I didn't do nothing to your dealer!" the man answered, "It was those robbed guys, I swear! I saw 'em!"

That made Arachne's mind jump as she realized that the man had run into the Scriers and survived. She quickly leaped from the wall she was on to stop the woman before she killed her intended victim.

"You know it's not nice to impale people on long metallic objects," Arachne spoke in a lecturing tone as she landed on the woman's shoulders, sending her crashing to the ground and making her drop her victim.

Arachne then flipped up and landed on the ground in front of the 'victim' as he attempted to flee the scene and disappear. She quickly webbed him to a nearby building.

"I'm sorry about this, but as soon as I'm done with her, I have some questions for you," Arachne told him.

Her spider-sense then flared up and Arachne quickly jumped up to avoid the armored woman as she dove at her. When she landed, Arachne caught the armored woman around the shoulders with her webbing and threw the villain across the street. She flew threw the air and landed on a parking meter, breaking off at the ground.

"Now, who the hell are you?" Arachne demanded.

The woman got up, looked at Arachne and growled, "Great. Another of Spider-Man's sidekicks."

The woman lunged at Arachne, but failed land a blow as Arachne leaped onto a nearby car.

"I am not his sidekick," Arachne growled and fired a pair of weblines hoping to ensnare the woman, "now who are you?"

"Spider-Man must really like his women dumb," the woman snarled and slashed at the car with her tail, sending it and Arachne flying, "I am the Scorpion. The costume and tail should have given that away."

Arachne landed on the side of a light pole while car ended up rolling into the middle of the street.

"You do know that Gargan is going to kill you when he gets out of jail?" Arachne questioned.

"He can try," the new Scorpion smiled, and leaped at the light pole, "I'll kill him just as easily as I'll kill you."

Arachne easily avoided the attack and new Scorpion ended up cutting the light pole in half with the razor sharp armored gloves that she wore. Arachne, meanwhile, caught the new Scorpion while she was still in the air with a webline and slung the villain over her head and slammed her to the ground. Arachne then landed on the new Scorpion's back.

"I'm afraid I don't go down easy," Arachne informed her opponent, "what do you say to that?"

The new Scorpion slashed at Arachne with her tail, knocking the heroine off of her.

"I say you ought to diet," the new Scorpion growled.

"But then I'd miss out on Halloween, Valentines Day, and Easter," Arachne teased.

The new Scorpion gave an infuriated growl and charged at Arachne. She attempted to land a strong punch on the heroine, but Arachne only ducked under it, grabbed the arm and slung the new Scorpion into the ground below them. Arachne then landed a powerful blow to the new Scorpion's temple that knocked her out despite the armor that she wore.

Arachne then rolled her opponent over and pulled the tail out of the suit of armor that the new Scorpion wore. Before she moved to talk with the man that the new Scorpion had been attacking, she webbed the villain to a nearby parked car.

"Get me out of here!" the man, identified as Freak by the new Scorpion, screamed in panic as Arachne approached.

"Easy there," Arachne answered, "I got a few questions to ask you myself, and I want honest answers."

"Just get me outta here!" Freak screamed again.

"Will you answer my questions?" Arachne asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, sure," Freak answered quickly, "Just get me out of here!"

Arachne then pulled her webbing off of the man and proceeded to carry him up to the roof of the building. He immediately became nervous and rushed to the edge.

"Why did you bring me here?" Freak demanded nervously.

"Just in case you had plans of running," Arachne answered, "I want answers to my questions and I don't have time to chase you as you look for a new hideout."

Freak then sighed and looked at the heroine that had saved and nabbed him simultaneously. He then motioned for Arachne to start her questioning.

"The Scorpion said you did something to some Bronx drug dealer," Arachne began, "and you say you did nothing. If so, who did?"

"Some weird guys," Freak answered, "all dressed in black robes and were freaky lookin'!"

"Men in black robes?" Arachne asked, "did they call themselves 'Scriers'?"

"I think so," Freak answered.

"Where in the Bronx did you see them?" Arachne questioned.

"Uh, it was this old abandoned apartment building up there," Freak answered.

"Where?" Arachne demanded.

"I don't know the address," Freak whimpered and moved away from her.

Arachne only sighed, "If I take you to the Bronx, can you point out the building?"

Freak slowly nodded, fearing that if he said no, he'd be in trouble.

"You aren't going to turn me in, are you?" Freak asked.

"I got nothing to turn you in for," Arachne answered tactfully, "I just need your help to stop a group of really bad men."

"You need my help?" Freak asked.

Arachne slowly nodded, although she looked nervous. Freak then leaped into her arms looking like some kid who'd met his hero.

"It's in the Bronx, let's go!" Freak spoke excitedly.

"Get your hands off my breasts," Arachne growled angrily.

**Midtown High**

Peter gave a slight stretch when he finally made it out of the high school. The day had gone by fine, but he felt a little cramped after being inside the building all day. He was about to head back towards the Avengers Tower to get ready for MJ's show when he heard several students nearby speaking in surprised and almost frightened manner. He looked over in their direction and saw that they were looking up, he then followed their gaze and was shocked by what he saw. It was the Green Goblin flying in circles over the building across the street from Midtown High.

"How did he escape S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Peter wondered to himself, not noticing that the costume the Goblin was wearing was the first costume design that Osborn had worn as the Green Goblin, "and why is he just waiting for me?"

Peter quickly ducked into a back alley behind the school and hoped no one walked by while he changed into costume.

"MJ is going to kill me," Peter sighed as he pulled on his mask.

Once changed, Spider-Man crawled up the wall and moved along the roof to look over at where the Green Goblin had been seen earlier. He was still circling the building across the street from the school. Spider-Man then leaped over the street and landed on the roof of the building that the Goblin was circling.

"Alright, Goblin," Spider-Man spoke, "I don't know how you broke out of jail, but I will put you back there!"

The Goblin didn't answer but turned toward Spider-Man and fired a series of rockets from his glider at Spider-Man. Spider-Man then felt his spider-sense go off, and he leaped off of it as the rockets hit the rooftop and Spider-Man saw explosions rock the roof throwing dust and debris into the air. As he landed he saw the Goblin flying off on his glider.

"Now, that is odd," Spider-Man grumbled and quickly took off in pursuit of the Goblin as the Goblin tried to flee the scene.

The Goblin lead Spider-Man on a rather lengthy chase until he got to a warehouse on Manhattan's lower west side. Once there, the Goblin flew into the wall and seemed to phase right through the wall. Spider-Man then landed on the wall feeling very surprised.

"Since when could he do that?" Spider-Man mumbled and began crawling along the side of the building to find a window.

Once he found one, he quickly smashed the window and leaped through the opening. He landed in the middle of a dark warehouse with no sign of anyone in it.

"Alright, Goblin!" Spider-Man yelled out sounding frustrated, "you've got me here, now come out and fight me!"

All he got in response to that was laughter, and Spider-Man quickly recognized that it was not the Green Goblin, but he couldn't identify who it was, and with lights down way low, he couldn't look around to see where the laugh had come from. Spider-Man was about to question who was laughing when he suddenly felt himself fly forward into a stack of crates in front of him.

"Oh, that hurt," Spider-Man grumbled as he pulled himself out of the pile of crates that he had been thrown into.

"Oh this will more then hurt, I assure you," a voice spoke out of nowhere, seemingly echoing through the warehouse.

"Who are you?!" Spider-Man yelled, "Show yourself!"

"Oh, but I want to you to guess who I am," the voice answered, "cut through the drama of the tension I have placed on you."

Spider-Man got out onto level ground when he suddenly saw the glowing image of Carnage standing in front of him. Started by the symbiote's appearance, Spider-Man threw out a powerful punch, but found himself connecting with only air.

"A hologram?!" Peter thought and growled out loud, "Mysterio."

The lights then came on to illuminate the warehouse. Spider-Man could now more clearly see the see of boxes that surrounded him as well as Mysterio, himself, standing on top of a raised platform near the far wall and near a light switch.

"Very good, Spider-Man," Mysterio spoke, "Very good. It took you a little longer then I thought, but I guess you can't expect much from dumb people."

"I've trashed you before, Mysterio," Spider-Man retorted fairly confidently, "calling me dumb isn't the smartest thing to do, especially since your illusions can't fool my spider-sense."

"Yes, but you apparently don't listen to it," Mysterio countered, "otherwise you would have known that 'Carnage' was just an illusion."

That made Spider-Man sigh with relief. Apparently Mysterio didn't know his spider-sense's inability to detect the Venom symbiote or any of its descendents, which included the Carnage symbiote. Even if he did know, Spider-Man was still confident that he could beat a man who ran around with a fishbowl on his head.

"Well believe this, Mysterio," Spider-Man announced as he leaped into the air toward Mysterio, "my beating you will be no illusion! And you'll have trouble alluding me."

As Spider-Man came down on the platform to land a blow on Mysterio, Spider-Man was surprised to see Mysterio suddenly vanish, and Spider-Man ended up punching the platform. He then stood up to see Mysterio standing about five feet behind on a different section of the platform. He then hit Spider-Man in the back with an electric charge powered by his gauntlets.

"I think I can elude your abilities far better then you assume," Mysterio answered.

"How did he do that?" Spider-Man wondered, "Mysterio's never been able to teleport before, and that couldn't have been an illusion."

"Well," Spider-Man replied, "You'll just have to stick around so I can figure out what you're up to."

He then fired out a pair of weblines at Mysterio, hoping that they would get him before he had a chance to escape as he'd done many times before. Mysterio managed to leap over the railing to descend to the floor, and the weblines missed. Spider-Man then leaped over the edge of the railing as well and found that Mysterio had once again vanished from sight. He landed on a crate and was visibly confused by the whole thing.

His thoughts were then interrupted by Mysterio appearing about ten feet away. He dove at the villain, but passed through it like it was another hologram. He looked around to see several Mysterios circling around him and the crates that would have been in the way.

"Can you guess the right 'me'?" Mysterio's voice echoed through the warehouse.

Spider-Man knew it had to be one of the Mysterios circling him, but he had to be careful. Sorting out who was who with his spider-sense would take some concentration, and would leave him vulnerable to attack, especially since the Mysterios were moving around crates as well and weren't moving around him at an even distance. After a few moments, he finally pinpointed the real Mysterio, who wasn't seeming to do anything more then let his illusion run, and he waited for the real Mysterio to move in front of him.

When the real Mysterio did come in front of him, Spider-Man lunged at the villain, but was suddenly stopped by a force he couldn't detect and was flung back into another pile of crates. He was unable to do anything to stop all of that from happening.

"Telekinesis?" Spider-Man wondered to himself, as he began to pull himself up, "Mysterio never had that ability either. This has to be someone new. It has to be. It's the only explanation."

Spider-Man then grabbed a nearby crate and flung it at Mysterio, hoping to gain enough of a distraction that he could formulate a new plan to deal with the man that had lured him to the warehouse they were in. The attempt failed to hit Mysterio as he once again teleported out of the crates path, but Spider-Man did gain the time to get back on his feet and look around the warehouse.

"Come on out new Mysterio!" Spider-Man challenged, "It's always a pleasure to defeat a new guy!"

Mysterio reappeared directly above Spider-Man and came down on him too quickly to avoid the attack. He quickly moved to try and hold Spider-Man down with his foot.

"How did you know who I was?" Mysterio demanded.

"I don't," Spider-Man answered as he grabbed Mysterio by the foot and threw him into the air, "I just know that you have powers that the other Mysterios that I've faced either didn't or don't have, depending on which Mysterio you're patterning yourself after."

Mysterio landed on top of a pile of crates near the wall that held the window that Spider-Man had earlier burst through. Spider-Man heard the crash and immediately leaped to the area where Mysterio landed, but saw nothing. After a second, his spider-sense blazed like a forest fire inside his head and he immediately leaped into the air to cling to the ceiling as Mysterio reappeared exactly where Spider-Man had been standing.

"It's no matter if you know who I am or not," Mysterio answered, "I've still killed you rather easily."

"Um, I'm up here," Spider-Man called down.

Mysterio then looked up, and if Spider-Man could have seen through the round dome that the villain wore, Spider-Man was sure that the creep was both surprised and possibly frightened as well.

"Remember my spider-sense," Spider-Man smiled confidently, although Mysterio couldn't see that, "you can't just teleport inside me and expect to kill me that way. And talk about a messy way to go."

"Stop laughing at me!" Mysterio suddenly yelled and fired a blast of electricity from his gauntlets, "It's your fault I'm like I am today! It's all your fault!"

Spider-Man easily dodged the attack and landed behind Mysterio.

"Jeez, what I ever do to you?" Spider-Man asked as he landed a strong blow that cracked the glass dome above Mysterio's head and sent him tumbling forward.

Mysterio rolled a few feet before recovering and firing blasts of electricity at Spider-Man again. The webbed hero was able to make out from Mysterio's body language was betraying a sense of panic and uncontrolled anger which could potentially lead to carelessness.

"You ruined my life! Set out to punish me for crimes that were never truly mine!" Mysterio roared, "I came to you people for help, to escape all the pressures that were tumbling in around me in my life, and what do you and your hero friends do? You try to arrest me for my brother's crimes! And that's not the worst! When you couldn't arrest me, you made sure I'd be deformed! You will PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE!"

"You know, I really should care, being the good guy and all," Spider-Man commented as he had moved forward during the man's rant, "but guys that I've dealt with have generally committed some crime, one way or another. And even if you were part of an organization and taking orders, you didn't HAVE to follow them."

Mysterio only hit Spider-Man in the chest with an electric blast at close range, knocking him back.

"Not every life you've touched and destroyed has been a criminal, Peter Parker," Mysterio sneered angrily.

That got Spider-Man's attention.

"Oh yes," Mysterio continued, "I know all about you and your activities. Your destruction of so many lives that lie at your feet because you had to but your nose into business that was never yours. The Stacys, who died because you had to be a hero."

"You're treading on thin ice, buddy," Spider-Man warned as the deaths of Gwen Stacy and her father were still something that Spider-Man grieved over.

Mysterio then used his telekinesis to again throw Spider-Man, this time against a nearby wall.

"If you hadn't interfered in the plans of others, they'd still be alive," Mysterio screamed, "You have no one to blame for their deaths but yourself, and yet you continue to learn from those mistakes and you continue to stick your nose where it doesn't belong, and because of that, you've ruined me."

"You sound like a person who isn't strong enough to take responsibility for his own mistakes," Spider-Man countered, "blaming me for everything when everyone knows that I would never go after anyone without a good reason."

Spider-Man then leaped into the air in an attempt to land a flying kick on Mysterio, but the villain teleported away before Spider-Man could arrive. He reappeared behind Spider-Man and hit the hero with a kick that him just as he landed. The blow didn't do much more then knock him down. When he got back up, he saw that while Mysterio was standing in a manner that conveyed that he was angry, it also betrayed that he was exhausted.

"Tired, Mysterio?" Spider-Man asked, "then perhaps you should sit down!"

He then fired out a pair of weblines aimed at Mysterio's feet and ankles. Mysterio tried to flee the attack, but failed and ended up with both weblines hitting one of his ankles and quickly wrapped around it. Spider-Man then pulled hard on his end of the line and Mysterio fell to the ground quickly. The webbed hero then wrapped Mysterio up in a web cocoon to keep Mysterio restrained.

"Now to find out who's decided to distract me from my day," Spider-Man commented, "And it's only fair. I'm going to guess the Scriers hired you? That's the only way you could know who I am, so now it's time I knew who you are."

Mysterio began to try and crawl away, almost in fear now, but couldn't get very far without the full use of his arms and legs to move away. Spider-Man quickly put his own foot down, which prevented Mysterio from moving at all. Spider-Man then smashed the glass dome that Mysterio wore over his head revealing the face beneath.

What he saw made him recoil away in horror. The man's face was scarred so heavily that it would be impossible to identify the man. Spider-Man could never remember fighting anyone that disfigured.

"Surprised, Spider-Man?" Mysterio growled as he shook his head, removing the shards of glass from his face, "this is the result of our last encounter. I got away, but my escape resulted in my getting mutilated by the environment I arrived in."

"You got yourself into your own mess," Spider-Man told him, "If you'd just give up, you wouldn't been in any danger."

Spider-Man then lefted Mysterio into the air to carry the crook outside.

"Now, would you be willing to let me know who you are, or am I going to have to pat you down for a drivers license?" Spider-Man asked.

"I'm Francis Klum you numbskull!" Mysterio screamed.

"Klum?" Spider-Man asked, confused, before remembering the run in with Klum on the bridge and his thinking that the man would kill the Black Cat, "You survived."

"No thanks to you," Klum growled as he struggled, but could not break free of Spider-Man's webbing, "your attack on me did all this to me, and I will not rest until you pay for your actions!"

"I only attacked you that night because you had Black Cat on top of the bridge where the Green Goblin killed Gwen Stacy," Spider-Man informed him, "I was afraid you were going to kill her, like you killed your brother."

"And if you hadn't stuck your nose in it, none of this would have happened," Klum growled, "so it is still all your fault."

"And you could have stood up to your brother long before he tried to rape Black Cat," Spider-Man retorted, "and while I'm sure she'll be glad to hear you're still alive, you will be spending a lot of time in jail for the time being. How long is up to the justice department."

**Avengers Tower**

Arachne knew she was late as she arrived at Avengers Tower and began to crawl toward the window that lead into her and Peter's room. As she moved to open the window, she felt her spider-sense buzz, and she looked up to see Spider-Man land on the wall above her.

"Shouldn't you be at the theater already?" Spider-Man asked curiously.

"Yeah," Arachne nodded and quickly slipped inside their room, "but I guess neither of us could avoid getting 'dressed' today. I ran into some woman claiming to be the new Scorpion going after some drug addict. I got some information that should be helpful, but I'm so late right now, we don't have time."

"I know," Peter sighed as he removed his mask, "we both need to get changed."

"And I need get back to the theater to get dressed for my part and go through make up," Mary Jane answered as she threw the shirt part of her Arachne costume on their bed, "and I don't have time to even shower…" she then sighed before continuing, "I guess I'll have to settle for a healthy dose of deodorant and hope I can get a taxi that is on time."

Mary Jane then disappeared into the bathroom, and Peter could hear the sink being turned on.

"So who did you run into?" Mary Jane asked from the bathroom.

"The newest Mysterio," Peter answered as he began removing his own costume, "attacked me just as I came out of school. I didn't get anything out of him that would be helpful, so you probably had the more successful day."

He turned to see Mary Jane come out of the bathroom, dressed in her underwear and begin pulling out appropriate clothing for the night and getting dressed.

"Yeah, successful," Mary Jane mumbled, "That's exactly how I'd describe it. I don't smell bad, do I?"

"Not really," Peter answered, "I'm sure no one will notice."

Mary Jane nodded, then sighed, and rushed out as quickly as she could, putting on her heals as she went. Peter then went about getting dressed as quickly as he could. He wasn't as late as MJ was, but he didn't have time to dawdle.

Once he was changed he rushed out to the main lobby of the floor where the Avengers lived where Aunt May and Jarvis were waiting.

"You're both cutting very close today, Peter," Aunt May spoke.

"I know, I know," Peter breathed, "but neither Mary Jane nor I asked to run into the villains that we did."

"I know," Aunt May answered, "I'm just glad you made it back before it was too late to head out to the play."

"Me too," Peter nodded, "are you coming along, Jarv?"

"Yes, your Aunt asked me to join her," Jarvis answered.

Peter smiled and nodded, "just remember that you're off duty. Don't start dusting the theater's seats."

Aunt May slapped his wrist the way a mother would to stop a child from stealing cookies from a jar.

"There is no need for that, Peter," Aunt May said firmly, "Now let's go."

**That Evening…**

The play went along quite well, with no interruptions by super villains of any kind, and afterward Peter and Mary Jane found themselves at a cast party being held to celebrate a successful opening night. Aunt May and Jarvis had returned to the Avengers' Tower immediately after the performance and a few bravos given to Mary Jane when the cast gave their final bow for the night.

"Wow, I can't believe I'm meeting you," Chloe spoke enthusiastically as she shook Peter's hand, making him wish he could have left with Aunt May.

"Peter, this is Chloe, she had the lead in the pay," Mary Jane told him from beside the excited woman shaking his hand, "and she happens to be a big fan of your photographs of Spider-Man."

"Oh," Peter answered, "So you're attracted to Spider-Man are you?"

"Not to Spider-Man," Chloe shook her head, "to the photographs. You do the best job among all the photographers newspapers got chasing superheroes around here. I mean, you're right in the action, and either Spider-Man or his opponent is centered in the shot. Almost everyone else gets either a shot of the aftermath, a shot of Spider-Man actually posing after the battle, or they get some ugly angle from below that makes his feet look disproportionately big in comparison to his head."

"I'm generally at eye level with those guys," Peter shrugged, "that's kinda why my shots look proportional. As for why others look off center, I can't explain that. Nearly every camera has some chip in it that it will automatically center the intended shot for the cameraman these days… my only guess would be that people either aren't programming the centering device, or are using old cameras. Which would actually make action shots more difficult, because those fights take place at such high speed, that an older camera may not be able to get a good shot, even if it is centered, and all you'd have is a blurry image."

"I still think you do the best job," Chloe told him.

"Thank you," Peter said politely, "and you did a good job in the play."

"MJ has really helped me get into the role," Chloe answered, "Sorta surprised me that she didn't try out for the part, because she was so good at it."

"I thought I'd be too young to play the character," Mary Jane spoke up, "That's all. I mean, if and when Peter and I have kids, I'd hope I'm old and gray by the time I'd have to worry about them the way your character was written up to worry about her son."

"You'll never be old and gray," Peter spoke to her.

"We all age, tiger," Mary Jane smiled, "Unless Spider-Man's found the fountain of youth."

"I'm sure he's looking," Peter smiled back.

"Cute," Chloe smiled, "Is that how married life goes for the two of you?"

"More or less," Mary Jane nodded, "He makes jokes, and I try to joke back. It's great, and I'd never give it up."

Chloe gave a polite smile, "maybe I'll find someone like that. It's great to have met you, Peter. Good luck with your photos."

"Thanks," Peter answered as she walked off.

As she walked off, Peter slowly moved over toward a table with small snack foods, including chips and summer sausage, and motioned for MJ to follow. He then spoke to her quietly so that only Mary Jane could hear him.

"So, did this new Scorpion work for the Scriers?" Peter asked.

"No," Mary Jane whispered back, "I think I ran into a one in a million chance of getting something we needed. The new Scorpion was working for some drug cartel. It was her intended victim that had seen the Scriers. He told me they took over an abandoned apartment building in the Bronx that was being used as a drug house. I had to carry him around the Bronx for half an hour before he could spot the location of where it was."

"Sounds like quite a trip," Peter answered.

"He was a weird, freaky guy," Mary Jane replied, "He seemed to give me a lot of 'pop culture worship', but it was also clear that he wasn't going to stop doing drugs."

"Some addicts are like that," Peter sighed.

"He had his hands everywhere they shouldn't have been," Mary Jane whispered, but indicating some frustration, "I left him dangling from a lamp post for that."

Peter cringed, but nodded.

"And he showed you where the Scriers have set up their new base?" Peter asked.

Mary Jane nodded, "We can hit it tomorrow morning before I have to show up for the second night's performance."

"What would I do without you?" Peter smiled confidently.

"Who knows?" Mary Jane sighed back, "Who knows?"

**To Be Continued…**


	5. Moments of Joy

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 5: Moments of Joy**

**Avengers Tower**

It was just after eight in the morning as Peter arrived in the dining area, to find Aunt May making eggs and Mary Jane reading the reviews page from the Bugle.

"So, what'd they say about your performance?" Peter asked as he sat down.

"I haven't seen anything," Mary Jane answered with a shrug, "I didn't think the critics were there for opening night."

"They're loss, dear," Aunt May spoke, "You did superbly."  
"Thanks, Aunt May," Mary Jane responded, "Hopefully things go well today too, as it will probably be hectic."

"Hectic?" Aunt May asked.

"Big day today, Aunt May," Mary Jane answered with some sarcasm evident in her voice, "Second performance of the play is on this evening, and today, Spider-Man and Arachne go Scrier hunting."

Aunt May then turned to them with some concern evident in her face.

"Are you certain you're doing this with another performance do tonight?" Aunt May spoke, "suppose one of you gets hurt?"

"We've finally found out where their base is, Aunt May," Peter spoke up, wondering why he really had to explain this, but decided since Aunt May knew, explaining to the woman that raised him wasn't a real problem, "The last remnants of them are hiding out in the Bronx. If we can catch them in the early afternoon, they'll be beaten, and MJ will have plenty of time to get to the theater."

"And if one of you gets hurt?" Aunt May asked, sounding more insistent.

"No one will get hurt," Peter answered, "There's only like five or six, seven at the most of them left in New York. Between MJ and me, we should be able to mop the floor with them, and it'll put this whole affair behind us."

Aunt May didn't look convinced by that. It seemed like bad time management to her.

"It's alright, Aunt May," Mary Jane sighed, "He sounds eager, but if there's any chance that one of us gets hurt, I'm sure he'll think twice about doing something that would get us hurt."

"It's not a question of whether or not you win or if the Scriers will be beaten," Aunt May spoke, "it's about whether or not you have the time to take the risk. Suppose Mary Jane, that you get hurt, or that it takes longer then planned? How do I explain to you're director that he needs to call your understudy?"

"I'm afraid you'd probably have to lie if something like that happened," Peter sighed, "an accident or sickness or something like that. I know its rough and all, but it goes with the secret identity thing."

Aunt May only sighed in response. The 'secret identity' thing was another thing that she still had some issue with, but she understood why Peter depended on it. However, it didn't entirely comfort her in their present situation.

"We'll manage Aunt May," Mary Jane spoke, "I know it seems like this isn't entirely the smartest thing from a point of planning, but Peter and I will be together. If it looks like one of us will get hurt, the other will help out to save the other."

"Alright," Aunt May relented, "I hope you know what you're doing."

"We do too," Peter sighed, "It's just too good an opportunity to pass up. It could end the Scrier's plan to off me."

**The Bronx**

The new leader of the Scriers in Manhattan frowned as he looked through the morning paper. Their attempt to find someone who could kill Spider-Man and Arachne had clearly failed as Mysterio had been hand delivered to the police, and reports indicated that the man was also a mutant and to be put in specialized restraints that neutralized his powers. The paper didn't give any other report on the fight.

It frustrated the new Manhattan leader as it would be months before they had obtained either the funds to refurbish their current headquarters or acquire a more suitable one, and possibly even longer before the main Scrier headquarters sent them replacement warriors, which meant that directly engaging either hero was out of the question for the Manhattan leader's small group.

Things were going bad for his branch and very bad. There weren't many other major villains that had legitimate chance of beating Spider-Man and Arachne as a team, and many of them were either in prison or doing something on their own. The Scriers could not afford these setbacks anymore, and he was thankful that so far, neither Spider-Man nor his partner had found their base. He looked up fro the paper when one of the other Scriers entered the room and bowed respectfully.

"Do you have something to report?" the Manhattan Scrier leader asked.

"Yes," the Scrier answered, "I'm afraid it is not something that would be seen as an immediate boost of strength for our position, but it is something that will provide us with some security inside our 'base' here."

The Manhattan leader leaned forward looking fairly interested in that. It wasn't entirely what he wanted, but it would at least provide their current base with some level of protection against the foes that would be likely to challenge them while they were weak.

"Go ahead," the Manhattan leader spoke calmly, "With our numbers so low and Mysterio's defeat, anything you might have would be good news."

"Our primary enemies are likely to be Spider-Man and Arachne, but our measures should at least weaken any of New York's superheroes," the Scrier answered, "we've employed largely mystical counter-measures to believed attack patterns that would be employed against us."

The Scrier then motioned for the Manhattan leader to follow him, meaning that this would be a visual tour of their base's defenses. The Manhattan leader followed the Scrier to the next room and to several boarded up windows. In the window well was a small wooden figurine that was glowing a dark purple.

"We've placed enchanted statues that will insure that the windows are well protected by force fields," the Scrier explained, "Should anyone try to come in that way, the field with repel them across the street, hopefully doing them great harm."

"It's unlikely that that would hurt Spider-Man," the Manhattan leader answered, "He'd manage to safely land on the building across the street."

"It would still keep him or his partner from just bursting through a window," the Scrier answered, "they would have to come through the roof or from the ground floor entrance."

The Manhattan leader nodded and then followed the other Scrier into one of the main hallways of the building. Embedded in the walls there appeared to be a stone glowing a dark purple color.

"These are sensors that will track anyone trying to move through the hallways," the Scrier explained, "the stones are enchanted and will react to any unauthorized person, which is any non-Scrier, if they aren't accompanied by a Scrier. Once the intruder trips the sensor, the stone will summon whatever would be best suited to stopping that particular intruder."

"They will know who the intruder is?" the Manhattan leader asked.

"Largely," the Scrier answered, "It's designed to detect any presence of super powers. They won't identify specific names, but they can detect the presence of powers and will counter attack in the way to best try to neutralize those powers."

"Amazing," the Manhattan leader, "and you're certain that this will detect Spider-Man or Arachne? They have been known to use walls and even the ceiling as their 'floor'."

"The mystical sensor extends all the way to the ceiling," the Scrier told him, "the only way they could avoid them would be to go through the air ventilation vents, which in this building we would hear a mile away and they would be so tight that they can not use their agility to avoid any counterattack."

The Manhattan leader nodded at that. The building they had appropriated was not in good shape, probably from years of lack of maintenance. Pipes leaked and some of the floorboards were rotten, which put them at risk of breaking. The other Scrier was directly referring to were the old air vents. The screws that were to hold them in the wall at many points had fallen out, and the walls ceiling supports were so old that the screws that were still there weren't doing too much to really help. They rattled loudly on days were there was a strong breeze. That meant that if anyone was in them, they would rattle them even more.

"Excellent," the Manhattan leader smiled, "What of the roof?"

"I have others setting up cameras that will at let us know which route our intruders would take," the Scrier answered, "if they go through the normal roof entrance, they will go straight into our hallway defenses and if they go into the air vents, we'll know to track them by their noise."

**Over New York**

Spider-Man and Arachne, meanwhile, were already on their way to the Scrier base, unaware that the Scriers were fortifying their base to protect it from any sort of intruder. Both were highly confident that they would succeed and there was a great hope that they would finally end the Brotherhood of Scrier's threats to kill them. It would leave their only serious threats to be concerned with to be the occasional villain trying to get rich quick.

"Top notch neighborhood, ain't it?" Spider-Man commented as they landed on the roof of a building in the Bronx and looked at building that looked like it should be condemned.

"The guy told me they took over an old abandoned building being used by drug dealers," Arachne told him, "those places are rarely in high rent neighborhoods."

Spider-Man only shrugged.

"You're sure that's the place?" Peter asked looking at the building.

Arachne nodded, "Yeah, the guy was supposedly trying to get more drugs when the Scriers came in and chased him out and killed the dealer."

The two looked at building for a few moments before Arachne asked a question, deciding to let Spider-Man take the lead.

"So, how do you plan to get in?" Arachne asked.

"The same way I crash most bad guy parties," Spider-Man answered with a smile, although Arachne couldn't see it though his mask, "Smash through the window. It'll surprise and take us right into their inner sanctum."

Arachne shook her head sighed, but agreed with the plan in principle. If it worked, there was no need to fix it. Spider-Man was the first to leap from the roof and send out a webline to allow him to swing for one of the windows on the middle floor of the building. Arachne followed right behind him.

As got closer to the window, Spider-Man suddenly felt his spider-sense blare inside his head, but it was too late for him to alter his course, and he continued to 'fly' toward the window. When he got to the point where his feet should have made contact with the wood and glass of the window, he contacted a strange purple force field that he couldn't break through. After a few moments, he found himself hurled backward in to Arachne following behind him. The two were thrown backward into the building across the street and ended up landing on the sidewalk fairly roughly.

"Okay that was different," Spider-Man commented as he and Arachne picked themselves.

The two then leaped to the side of the wall and Spider-Man was soon testing the strength of the force field.

"What is it?" Arachne asked.

"Force field of some kind," Spider-Man answered, "I can't see any sort of wire or emitter device, so it might be mystical. I can't break it."

"So we'll take a different way in," Arachne sighed, "you have a plan for that?"

"We can't let the Scriers escape," Spider-Man answered, "I'll go up to the roof and come down from there. You go around to the door and move up from there. We'll catch the Scriers between us."

Arachne nodded and began crawling along the walls to get to the door while Spider-Man began crawling up toward the roof. He found the roof empty of any sign of people, which he assumed meant that no one knew he was there. He then began quietly walking to a structure that likely housed the stairs he could take to get into the building. He found the door open and easily walked inside.

Arachne, meanwhile moved along the wall until she was above the door to the building. Like the rest of the building's exterior, it looked as though it was about to fall off of its hinges. Deciding that they were to catch the Scriers, she gave the door a good firm kick, sending it flying into the building with a great crash.

Meanwhile, the Manhattan leader was gathering most of his remaining Scriers for a meeting to discuss what to do now that the new Mysterio had also been defeated. Only one man was missing, and he had been assigned to watch the roof cameras for any sign of intruders.

"Now, with the new Mysterio's failure, brothers, we are once again in need of an agent to deal with Spider-Man," the Manhattan leader spoke, "I want…"

He was cut off by the arrival of the Scrier who had been assigned to watch the roof cameras.

"I'm sorry to intrude, but Spider-Man has just entered through the roof entrance," the Scrier spoke.

"Spider-Man?" the Manhattan leader gasped, "How could he have found us?"

"I don't know, sir, but he has entered the building," the Scrier answered.

"Then our traps will get a good test," a different Scrier said with a smile.

The Manhattan leader was about to answer when there was a loud crashing noise that came from the floor below them, indicating that someone entered from the ground level.

"I would prepare for battle," the Manhattan leader spoke, "they're coming after us from all sides."

Spider-Man carefully made his way down the stairs into an open hallway. He saw several closed doors, but what held his attention for the moment was a series of glowing purple stones embedded in the wall at about waist level.

"Must have used some sort of mystical weapon to trap me with," Spider-Man commented, noticing that the stones were parallel with each other on he wall, "not like it can stop me, though."

Spider-Man leaped up to the ceiling and began crawling along it to the first door. As he crossed the position where the first stone was, he felt his spider-sense blare at full force inside his brain. Several large arrows suddenly appeared out of nowhere and began flying at him at high speed. Spider-Man managed to avoid getting hit by leaping away.

Unfortunately, in diving away, he passed the second set of stones and several pumpkin bombs appeared and began to fall down toward him. Again, Spider-Man was warned by his precognitive danger-sense, and he leaped back toward where the arrows had appeared. He managed to avoid taking a direct hit from the summoned pumpkin bombs, but the resulting shockwave sent him flying into the wall near the stairs that he had just came down.

"Great," Spider-Man grumbled, "these guys must have been watching 'Home Alone' or something."

Spider-Man then fired out a series of shots of webbing at all of the stones, hoping his webbing would block the mystical sensors. He then tested his theory by passing his hand through the area where the first stone was. When he got no response from that, he sighed and moved to check the first room again. That room and all the others on that floor were empty.

As Arachne made her way into the main hallway on the ground floor, she noticed the glowing stones as well. They made her stop entirely as she looked for the possible booby traps that the stones likely carried. She couldn't see any traps visibly and was about to keep going when she remembered the Scriers ability to manipulate supernatural forces and magic.

"Those stones must do something like what that ruby did with John Jameson," Arachne remembered and backed away, "I better take them out before they damage the building any further."

Arachne then fired her own webs at the stones, covering them, and then punching the spot with her fist. The action destroyed the stones and ended the spell with a puff of purple smoke, but she had still tripped the trap in punching the stones. A series of darts appeared near the ceiling, but because the spell was destroyed, they dropped harmlessly to the floor and merited no warning from Arachne's spider-sense. Like Spider-Man on the top floor she began checking the rooms on the round floor, and like her partner, she found the rooms empty.

"Guess they're on the upper floors," Arachne commented and then headed for the stairs, looking for any sign of more mystical traps.

In their main 'conference room' the Scriers waited patiently after arming themselves with various weapons for their enemies to arrive. They knew one was Spider-Man and they could hear the sound of him dealing with the traps on the floor above him. The other was an unknown and there was no sign that the other was having any real difficulty, which was somewhat concerning for the Scriers. New York had many different heroes, and there only a few who lacked the powers and or training that gave the Scriers an advantage in a one on one fight, or even a slightly uneven fight numerically.

"Who do you think the other one is?" one Scrier asked half curious, half nervous.

"I do not know," the Manhattan leader answered with an angry sigh, "Whoever it is has to have mystical powers to discern the powers of the traps you laid. And I don't know how or even why Spider-Man thought ahead enough to anticipate our using of mysticism to defend ourselves."

"I say we go forward and get them," another Scrier urged, "They've got us trapped here if we stay, and if they have some wizard blocking our magics, staying here would only leave us in a confined space that would not be to our advantage."

"The hallway is even smaller then this room," the Manhattan leader answered, "and venturing out of this room would break any opportunity for us to escape to find a new base later."

The sound of footsteps on the stairs returned their attention to the coming fight. They either raised their weapons or their fists and prepared for their intruders to make their entrance.

Both Spider-Man and Arachne arrived on the middle floor at about the same time. Again, they found more glowing purple stones.

"Be careful," Spider-Man spoke first, "those stones seem to represent a trap, and their 'sensor' range goes all the way from the floor to the ceiling. No way to avoid them."

"I can see that," Arachne answered, pointing to a scratch on Spider-Man's right shoulder and an obviously torn costume in the same area, "You catch any Scriers?"

"No," Arachne answered, "You?"

Spidey shook his head, "No. They must be on this floor."

"What if they're not here?" Arachne asked.

"If they're not here, you go back to the tower and get ready for your show, and I'll wait here for them to stumble back into their own base," Spider-Man answered, "Shouldn't destroy both of our social lives."

Arachne nodded and resumed her tactic for destroying the glowing stones. Webbing them first, and then punching the stone. The result was a series of guns dropping from the ceiling and landing at her feet. Spider-Man only webbed the stones over, and walked by as the stones apparently couldn't detect anything while covered. Spider-Man didn't know why their webbing didn't set the trap off, but he wasn't about to ponder on it.

They checked the rooms closest to the edge of the hallway, and found them to be completely empty, as the other rooms had been. Then they approached the final door, which they actually hoped the Scriers were hiding behind.

"Here goes nothing," Spider-Man commented and opened the door.

As he did so, his spider-sense blared loudly in his head, and he ducked down to avoid two ninja stars thrown at shoulder height. His duck didn't do much to really help him that much as he ended up ducking into a foot coming up to meet his face. The blow knocked him back into the hallway.

"Found them," Spider-Man said weakly.

Arachne reacted quickly and lunged forward to tackle the Scrier that had landed the kick on her partner and flipped over, throwing the Scrier into one of the side walls. The wall crumbled and the Scrier was soon laying face down in a different room with bits of the wall laying on top of him. Arachne soon found herself facing nine other Scriers. Spider-Man was quick to join her.

"So they were all hiding from us," Spider-Man quipped, "after we came all this way to visit."

"You intrude in our matters for the last time," the Manhattan leader said firmly as he motioned for his followers to attack.

Two rushed at Spider-Man with swords raised while two rushed at Arachne sais ready to hack and slash the two heroes apart. The Manhattan leader remained in a central position with a sword raised to defend, while four others readied either ninja stars or close range crossbows.

Spider-Man leaped into the air and caught the two swords of the first two Scriers and yanked them out of their grip.

"Come on, don't you remember the words of advice given by your mothers?" Spider-Man joked, "Never play with swords in an enclosed space?"

Spider-Man then twisted in mid air to throw the swords at two of the Scriers ready to throw ninja stars at him. The two Scriers were forced to duck under the flying swords, and when they hit the floor, thanks to Spider-Man's great strength, they were embedded in floor. When he landed, he lifted up the table and used it as a massive club, sending four Scriers wielding ranged weapons skidding along the floor. When they stopped they were all out cold.

Arachne, relying on her spider-sense as much as possible leaped through the hole in the wall that the Scrier that she had thrown to get some distance between herself and the two Scriers directly advancing on her. She ended up doing an extra summersault once in the room to get herself righted, and once she was, she saw both Scriers struggling to get in through the same hole.

"Hold on," Arachne taunted, "there's no need to push. There's plenty of me to go around."

Arachne then fired a pair of weblines that caught each Scrier around the wrist, and pulled them both through the hole, forcing it to be made larger in the process and sending both Scriers flying into the wall that was behind Arachne. They were still conscious, but they had lost their sais, and Arachne soon saw to their being knocked out by leaping at them and landing a swinging kick as she got close.

She then webbed the three Scriers up together before heading out to rejoin the main battle between Spider-Man and the other Scriers.

The Manhattan leader swung his sword at full force, hoping to cut Spider-Man in half with it, but the webbed hero only leaped backward and used the table he was holding as a shield. The sword cut the table in half like it was nothing, leaving Spider-Man holding half of a table.

"Nuts," Spider-Man commented and then had to leap backward to avoid the Manhattan leader's second swing with his sword.

The other two Scriers managed to get to where Spider-Man was supposed to land, and managed to hit Spider-Man in a couple of pressure points, forcing Spider-Man to his knees. He soon discovered that for the moment, it was fairly difficult for him to move anything below his waist. The Scriers had to have hit a nerve to do that, and that made Spider-Man slightly nervous as the Manhattan leader approached, sword raised.

"You gonna knight me or something?" Spider-Man quipped getting a feeling in his stomach about what the Manhattan leader intended to do with the sword he was holding.

"I am going to end your interference in our affairs," the Manhattan leader answered and raised his sword even higher.

Spider-Man gulped as the Manhattan leader prepared to deal the death blow, but soon looked up to see that the blow never came. Arachne had returned to the room he was in and caught the Manhattan leader around the wrists with her webbing. She then whipped her webbing so fiercely that the Manhattan leader was actually sent flying to the ceiling of the room and fell back to the floor unconscious.

Spider-Man, meanwhile, was also beginning to recover from the blows that temporarily paralyzed him, and managed to elbow the Scriers behind him in the gut. As they stumbled back, Spider-Man pivoted around on one knee and took the legs out from under the two Scriers and webbed them to the floor. He then managed to get up and look around the room. There were ten either unconscious or captured Scriers and a fully conscious Arachne standing there.

"Well, that went well," Spider-Man shrugged.

"Yeah," Arachne nodded, "these guys will go to jail, and the Scriers won't be able to bother us any more. Where do we leave 'em?"

"I'd assume some lamp post or street sign would work," Spider-Man shrugged, "Tony's supposedly taken care of delivering the evidence that these Scriers have been behind Fisk's return, the gang warfare, and the latest super villain activity."

"And when you say evidence, I'm sure you mean what we've found with them and what we've told him," Arachne commented as they began webbing up the unconscious Scriers.

"It's the best we can really do with these guys," Spider-Man sighed.

He then felt his spider-sense go off before he heard another voice speak up.

"Oh, I'm sure you could do much better," came the voice of Maria Hill from the doorway.

The two looked up to see the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director and about five armed agents with her, and all of them were in the vicinity of the doorway. Hill looked extremely stern, which spooked Spider-Man out and made Arachne also feel nervous.

"Ah, Director Hill, what brings you down here to mingle with us lowly commoners?" Spider-Man asked in his normal joking manner.

"Save your theatrics for a late night talk show, Spider-Man," Hill answered, "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important."

"Okay," Arachne then spoke up, "WHY are you here?"

"Because what S.H.I.E.L.D. found in their Newark base has indicated to us that these 'Scriers' do pose some threat to national security, and I am taking personal control of the operation to stop them," Hill answered.

"What you found?" Spider-Man asked, sounding serious, "You mean what WE found and you confiscated before we could do anything to stop what the Scriers were doing."

"It has been S.H.I.E.L.D.'s notice, Spider-Man, that you have lost every fight you've engaged in Spider-Man in some manner or another," Hill answered, deliberately sounding insulting, "Either your foe escaped, won and you escaped, or you caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage in process of winning the fight itself. That is a sign of a lack of both training and intelligence. S.H.I.E.L.D. will not trust you as far as you could probably throw me. S.H.I.E.L.D. will deal with the Scriers and if you are involved, it will be under the command of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who has spent years in training so that he would avoid causing unnecessary property damage when engaging an enemy."

Spider-Man ended up grinding his teeth all through Hill's speech. S.H.I.E.L.D. rarely batted an eye at his villains, which included serial killers and people who had powers to cause vast amounts of destruction on their own if he did nothing. And Hill was here saying that he was the direct cause of all the destruction his fights had caused. This upset him greatly for two reasons. One, he felt his villains were far more responsible for the damage then he was, and two, there were the occasions where he did feel responsible, even though MJ and Aunt May had always said he wasn't. He wasn't about to be friendly with a person he found to be so rude.

"And how did you know they were here?" Spider-Man demanded icily, "Arachne and I only found out about this place last night."

"Simple," Hill answered, "We followed you after you left the Avengers Tower."

"You were spying on us?" Arachne gasped, "You can't do that!"

"Spider-Man has been accused of every crime imaginable," Hill answered, "it is therefore the responsibility of the government to make sure that dangerous people such as him are watched carefully. Nothing illegal in being prepared."

"You're paranoid," Arachne grumbled.

"A paranoid person is never caught by surprise," Hill answered, "Now, leave my crime scene, or I'll have both of you arrested for obstructing justice."

"You want the Scriers?" Spider-Man growled sounding very angry, "Fine. You can have them. These guys are the last ones in the New York area. Once again you say I'm stupid and worthless, but you show up too late to show me how to take them down. You can have them."

Spider-Man then angrily walked out with Arachne following. Hill and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents let them go, but it was clear as the two passed each other that there was heavy distrust between them. Once they made it back up to the roof, both began webslinging back toward Avengers Tower.

"You okay, Tiger?" Arachne asked after a few moments.

"That witch of a woman," Spider-Man growled back, "lecturing me on fighting people her organization has no interest in."

"She was wrong about what she said," Arachne told him, trying to comfort her partner, "She was wrong. You don't cause most of the property damage that sometimes happens."

Arachne then heard Spider-Man sigh heavily.

"It's not that entirely," Spider-Man sighed, "it's things like the death of the Stacys. Both George and Gwen. Both of them died as a result of battles I was in. George was killed when a batch of webbing I had mixed up to deal with Doc Ock caused his tentacles to go mad, which resulted in Ock knocking a wall from the roof down onto him. And… you know how Gwen died."

Arachne only sighed in response to that.

"You didn't intend for them to die," Arachne told him.

"I know," Spider-Man answered, nearly yelling, "but I still feel responsible. And they way she put it makes it sound like I intentionally did those things. It's like twisting a knife in an infected wound."

"At least the Scriers are no longer a threat to anyone," Arachne sighed, "at least around here. That has to be good, right?"

"Yeah," Spider-Man nodded after a moment, "Unfortunately, Hill really struck a nerve with me. I'm afraid I won't be that great of company."

"I'll probably have to start getting ready for tonight soon," Arachne told him, "try to just let what she said slide off your shoulder and don't let it bother you."

"I'll try," Spider-Man sighed weakly.

**Elsewhere**

A lone Scrier priest sat in a large underground temple complex in deep meditation. The cavern that held the currently inactive 'Prime Scrier' that all the Scriers worshiped was a few rooms away and the Scrier priest had access to several different mystical objects that the Brotherhood of Scriers had collected over hundreds of years. After a few moments, a vision suddenly came to the priest and he did not like what he saw.

The first thing the Scrier saw was images of New York City and two red and blue spiders. He watched as the two spiders spread webs over the city and then walked over webbed up Scriers. Then he saw a large black eagle land on a human skull painted red. Two black spiders then emerged from the skull's eyes walked up to a tied down Scrier and sank their fangs into that Scrier's chest.

That made the Scrier priest sit up straight and begin moving to find the leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers. He had to know what the priest had seen. He found the leader standing in a training room supervising the training sessions of other Scriers.

"Ah, head priest," the leader spoke, "It is good to see you, is their something you need?"

"No," the priest answered, "I believe I have foreseen a great danger for the Brotherhood of Scriers."

The leader looked at him nervously, "You've had a vision."

The priest nodded, "It is two fold. First, I believe our Manhattan branch has been lost. Completely. Destroyed by Spider-Man and Arachne."

"Which means Osborn will escape our righteous revenge," the leader growled.

The priest was not concerned with that. The second part of his vision was far more concerning.

"Osborn should be the least of our concerns now," the priest answered.

"There is more to this vision?" the leader questioned.

"Yes, my Lord," the priest answered, "From what I have interoperated from it, a black eagle, S.H.I.E.L.D., will ally with the Red Skull and unleash two black colored spider themed heroes to destroy the heart of our organization."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. would ally itself with the world's most ruthless Neo-Nazi?" the leader asked.

"Technically, I believe the Red Skull is an ORIGINAL Nazi, but it is possible," the priest answered, "We all saw his little announcement on television. S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't attacked him directly. And should he attack us on his own, we could be facing serious trouble, as our magics would be cancelled out by his Cosmic Cube."

That made the leader sigh heavily.

"And the Brotherhood suffered under Hitler's reign," the leader sighed, "this is dangerous. And who are these 'black colored spider heroes' that he will send?"

"There are many spider themed heroes and even villains, and a fair number of them either wear black or have worn black," the priest answered, "Spider-Man over the years has worn a black costume which is very similar to the first Venom's costume. Venom, himself, goes without mention. There is also the second woman to call herself Spider-Woman who wore a variant of Spider-Man's black costume."

There was an uneasy silence that followed before the priest finished.

"And for all we know Arachne could adopt a new costume design or these could be entirely new spider-themed heroes," the priest finished.

"Hopefully its someone we can expect," the leader, "between reports of multiple 'spider-women' and Osborn's clones of Spider-Man, I am tired of the word spider and any word associated with it."

"Of course," the priest answered.

**New York, Avengers Tower, The Next Day**

Peter stretched and yawned as he got up to get ready for his day of teaching. He had managed to get over the rude comments that Hill had made the day before and he now felt confident and glad that the Scriers in New York were no longer a problem for him. He was certain that he might still have work to do as Spider-Man, but with the Scriers no longer able to plot his demise in his backyard, he felt safe and secure, for the moment.

He found Jarvis waiting in the kitchen, fully dressed and prepared for his own work for the day.

"Morning, Jarv," Peter said casually, "Sleep well?"

"Of course, sir," Jarvis answered, "Is their anything you need? Anything at all?

"No," Peter answered, "I think I'll just have a bowl of cereal today."

Peter was quiet for a moment and then spoke again.

"I'm sorry if I didn't seem like I was around last night," Peter commented, "I'm afraid I wasn't in much of a good mood and didn't want to bother anyone."

"Yes," Jarvis nodded, "Your wife told me of your altercation with Director Hill. I'm afraid that she is not a unique case in humanity. There is always people like that, I had a lieutenant like that in army. It is one of the things that one needs to just let roll off of their shoulder."

"Yeah, I suppose," Peter shrugged, "but I'm over it now, and the Scriers are gone for now, so we have nothing major to worry about right now."

"That's good," Jarvis answered, "It might give you time to think about other things and relax a little."

"I hope so," Peter nodded and began to eat his breakfast.

It was a while later when Mary Jane came out into the kitchen with Aunt May actually following. Mary Jane paused to find the newspaper and began looking for he reviews section while Aunt May moved to help Jarvis cook their breakfast. The performance that went on the night before went well for Mary Jane, and since the critics did show up for that show, she wanted to see what they said.

"Peter seemed to be in a much better mood this morning," Jarvis commented to inform them.

"That's good," Aunt May commented, "a little time to cool off was all he needed."

"These things are fairly common," Mary Jane spoke up, "Either some nut really gets him mad or there is something that he's nervous or feels guilty about that he dwells on for awhile. I think it has to do with the nuts he's had to fight over the years, but he always manages to recover, especially if the bad guy's been beaten."

Aunt May and Jarvis both nodded.

"I wish that he didn't have to put up with such stresses," Aunt May commented, "It doesn't seem too fair to him."

"He's got help now," Mary Jane reminded Aunt May, "I think we're past the worst of all that, and with the Scriers in New York beaten, things should be fairly calm."

"And you both did well in beating those Scriers," Aunt May spoke, "the world has to many secret societies as it is."

Mary Jane nodded and resumed looking through the paper. As she read the reviews, Aunt May decided to change the topic of their conversation.

"So, Mary Jane, dear, is there anything you need help with today?" Aunt May asked, "Or anything big event today?"

"They play has two performances today," Mary Jane answered, "One in the afternoon and one in the evening. I'm afraid I won't be here when Peter gets back from school. But as far as I know, neither of us have any 'spider' business to take care off."

"But something could pop up," Aunt May nodded, "what did the reviewers say about the play?"

"They seemed to like it," Mary Jane answered, "They don't say much more about me then that they thought I took too small a part, but they also said Chloe did well in the lead role, so I do not know what that means."

"Probably that they liked your friend's performance but would have preferred you to have the part," Jarvis spoke as he served MJ a plate of scrambled eggs and a few piece of fried ham.

**Midtown High**

Peter's day of teaching went by fairly well. His students seemed to pay as much attention as could be expected from teenagers, but Peter had actually grown to like teaching. It provided him with an extra supply of money hat in a way was more steady then his work for the Bugle, and he liked to think he was making a difference in a way that didn't require him being Spider-Man.

The only "problem" he had was Flash. Now, he wasn't the bully he had been when the two of them were students at Midtown, but Peter was still certain that Flash was still suffering from the amnesia inflicted by Osborn deciding to pull of his nastier games. Peter had decided not to try and push anything, as Flash didn't appear to be in any danger, and the best Peter could diagnose, was that Flash's amnesia was only partial, but he still wondered if there was something he could do to help Flash get all of his memories back.

He wondered if meeting with Liz again, now that he was out of the need for medical care, might job his memory, but his current relationship with Midtown's Nurse Arrow made him somewhat nervous. Flash and Liz had 'dated' in high school and he didn't want to get in the way of Flash's current relationship. He decided to table that idea while he thought over other possible options while he lead his class to the gym for a school assembly.

Peter's class ended up seated next to Flash's PE class at that period, and Peter found himself sitting beside the guy who was once Midtown's bully and was now a man Peter was fairly friendly with.

"Hey, Pete, what do ya suppose this is all about?" Flash asked as he sat his class down.

"I think it's a mandatory assembly to tell kids about what's bad about drugs or something like that," Peter shrugged as he sat down next to Flash.

"But that's part of my health portion of my classes," Flash protested, "Wouldn't having an assembly on that stuff be redundant?"

"You remember high school, don't you, Flash?" Peter asked, somewhat humorously, "In one ear and out the other. There are some things everyone needs reminding on sometimes."

"Say, how come you didn't have a picture of Spider-Man capturing those Scrier guys?" Flashed asked, "I didn't see a picture in the paper."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. took all the credit for apprehending the Scriers," Peter said calmly and controlling his temper, "If Spider-Man was there, he was apparently only there because S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted him there. I couldn't get close enough to take any photos. Government secrets and all that."

"Stupid government," Flash grumbled, "Spider-Man's a hero. I can see that plain as day. If he was there, I betchya he did ALL the work. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't even stop a guy with a very bad skin condition raise an island in the middle of the ocean."

Peter smiled at that.

"I'm sure Spider-Man would be glad to have you on his side," Peter told him.

**Elsewhere**

Mary Jane walked quietly in the direction of the theater to get ready for the afternoon show. If she kept going, she would surely be on time, and considering the bumper to bumper traffic, she'd certainly get to the theater before a cab could. As she approached a corner, she caught the sound of child talking behind her.

"I can't wait, mom," the child spoke very excitedly, "can he see the skyline from his office?"

"Rachel, be careful you almost knocked this woman over," the mother scolded.

It wasn't really true. Mary Jane had plenty of warning and moved aside to give the child room. She then turned to face the two newcomers. One was a young girl who appeared to be about the age of a fifth or sixth grader. Her mother looked to be about the same age as Mary Jane. Both of them had strawberry blonde hair.

"It's no problem, ma'am," Mary Jane spoke up, "I'm sure we were all excited as she is at one time or another."

"I'm sure," the mother answered, "I'm Julia, I'm really sorry if Rachel startled you, Ms. …"

"Parker," Mary Jane answered, "Mary Jane Watson-Parker, and as I said before, it's no problem."

"The actress?" Rachel asked, "Mom and I saw your play last night."

"I hope you liked it," Mary Jane gave a warm smile, "I'm on my way to an afternoon performance now."

"We both liked it," Julia told her, "It's part of a special mother-daughter couple of adventures together that we've been having."

Something flashed through MJ's mind when she said 'mother', but she kept it to herself.

"Shouldn't your daughter be in school?" Mary Jane asked.

"No, I home-school her," Julia answered, "I was busy for many years and I actually found home schooling her easier as I could make sure she did her homework."

"Sounds rather difficult," Mary Jane commented.

"It was, but it was still the most rewarding thing I ever did," Julia smiled, "My Rachel is very smart, possibly smarter then most of the kids going through public school these days. It just shows what one can do when one puts their mind to it. I'd like to think that even the various superheroes and heroines out there could afford to raise families. It takes work, but it's doable. The real problem there is that most of our heroes are all single, that's why Susan Richards is the only female hero to have kids that is well known."

"Maybe they're afraid that they'd put their children at risk?" Mary Jane commented, "I mean, fighting guys like Galactus and Hydra can be pretty dangerous. Their children could become targets of those villains."

Julia shrugged, "I'd think that if they did things responsibly, they should have no problem. It may mean some extra work, but it's not impossible."

"You seem to have thought a lot about these sorts of things," Mary Jane commented, "are you some sociologist or something?"

"Not officially," Julia answered with a chuckle, "I was a government agent at one point, but I'm no longer in that specific field anymore. Most of my work now involves a lot of thinking and observation. As a result, I have plenty of time to think about such things."

"I see," Mary Jane nodded, "and what is this mother-daughter adventure you two are on, if I may ask?"

"We're going to pick up the man I've been dating and then to the park and then to dinner," Julia answered, "He liked your play too by the way."

Julia and her daughter then turned down a different corner while Mary Jane continued on her way to the theater, which was now in sight. As she walked she pondered over what Julia had talked about and her mind flashed back to her conversations with Peter knowing that he wanted children. She was also reminded about some of the conversations she had had with Jessica Jones and some others. And with the Scriers defeated, seems seemed peaceful enough that forming a family did not seem like such a problem that it seemed earlier.

"Maybe it can be done," Mary Jane thought to herself, "but I'd still have to talk to Peter first…"

Focusing on what she would have to do for her play, Mary Jane put her thoughts on hold for a moment and walked into the theater.

**Avengers Tower**

Peter returned to find Jarvis and Aunt May watching a television news program, mostly covering events that were well beyond his ability to control.

"Hey guys," Peter spoke calmly and in a friendly manner, "How's it going?"

"You're certainly in a better mood," Aunt May smiled, "and I think we're doing well."

"I am in a better mood," Peter nodded, "the Scriers are out of New York for good, and Flash is still in love with Spider-Man."

"I trust you told him you're married," Aunt May gave a slight joking smile, "to a woman."

"What?" Peter gasped and then shook his head vigorously, "No, not like that. I mean he's a fan of Spider-Man."

Aunt May continued smiling.

"And where did all this come from?" Peter then asked, still shocked that Aunt May had pulled a joke on him.

"Don't think me a helpless old bitty, dear," Aunt May replied, "You might find yourself quite surprised."

"Okay," Peter answered, "So, what's going on?"

"There is still a lot of controversy about the Red Skull and his island," Jarvis answered, "The president appears to be quite supportive after his visit, and it's actually really angered Cap."

"Does he need help, Jarv?" Peter asked.

"I would think that the Captain requires time and space at the moment," Jarvis answered, "He and Master Stark have been trying to discover some way to stop him, but he's tied his actions behind the guise of being a political leader."

"So he's turned himself into another version of Doctor Doom?" Peter guessed, "We can't touch him because of diplomatic immunity."

Jarvis only nodded, "I'm sure he would accept your help if things come to a point where he feels he needs it."

"I hope so," Peter sighed, "MJ go to her performances today?"

"Yes, dear," Aunt May answered.

"Alright," Peter answered, "I think for now I'll go make a run around the city, and maybe see if Spider-Man catch MJ when she leaves and congratulates her on her performance."

"Don't scare anyone," Aunt May cautioned.

**Theater, That Evening**

The sun had long set by the time that the evening performance ended and Mary Jane walked out of the theater. Both performances had gone well and the theater had decided to keep the play running for a while longer as its ticket sales were slightly higher then what they expected. That gave Mary Jane some confidence in bringing in some money and helping out. As she approached the street she looked up to notice Spider-Man standing on the roof and waving his arms, obviously indicating that he wanted to talk to her.

Mary Jane only sighed and walked on a little way until she could find an alley to slip into without being noticed. Once she did she quickly made her way onto the roof to wait for Spider-Man to actually get close.

"Hey there, Tiger," Mary Jane spoke as Spider-Man got close, "Have a good patrol?"

"Yeah, a fairly quiet afternoon," Spider-Man answered, "and I caught your evening performance, albeit from an air vent. You did well."

"I'm going to decide not to tell Aunt May about that," Mary Jane answered with a sigh.

Spider-Man chuckled and looked out over the city.

"I would have thought you would have gotten changed," Spider-Man commented after a moment.

"I do not have my costume with me," Mary Jane answered, "I can't wear it under my play costume and didn't want some stage hand to accidentally find it. Besides it's a quiet night as you said."

"That it is," Spider-Man nodded and looked out over the city, "And hopefully will be quiet now that the Scriers are out of New York."

"Yeah," Mary Jane nodded and then looked down for a moment before speaking again, "and with it being calm for now, maybe we can talk about other things."

"What 'other things'?" Spider-Man asked, looking over at MJ with a rather confused look on his face, although Mary Jane couldn't see that through his mask.

"Families," Mary Jane answered, "It's been something that's been on my mind of late."

"You've never wanted to get pregnant, MJ," Spider-Man pointed out.

"But I'm not opposed to it," Mary Jane retorted with a sigh, "and I know that you've wanted kids… and maybe my opinion of being pregnant has changed."

"You actually want kids now?" Spider-Man asked.

"I wanted to have our first child when I was close to term," Mary Jane answered, "as I said before, I am not opposed to having kids. And it's been something that's been on my mind of late."

Spider-Man sighed and looked on.

"Maybe it's my biological 'clock' ticking or something," Mary Jane commented.

"I'd be a lot of work," Spider-Man commented, "and you can't be Arachne while you're pregnant."

"I know," Mary Jane answered, "but I know you've said you wanted a family and all that. If we wait until we're too old to be Arachne and Spider-Man, I'll probably be too old to have kids. If we do this, it'd be best to do it now while it's relatively quiet."

Spider-Man slowly nodded, "I suppose you're right there. Are you sure this is what you want? I don't want to force you anything."

"You wouldn't forcing me," Mary Jane told him, "If Susan Richards can have two separate kids, I can have one."

Spider-Man nodded again, "and when you said it'd be best to do it, did you mean right here? Right now?"

Mary Jane put her head in her hands trying to keep herself from laughing, "Don't be quite so eager. I'll see you back at the tower."

Spider-Man lifted her up in his arms before she could approach the edge of the building.

"Or I could carry you," Spider-Man answered, "Your own private knight in webbed armor."

"Very well, my brave sir knight," Mary Jane sighed and moved to cling to Spider-Man's back and wrapping her legs to Spider-Man's midsection with her own webbing to help insure that she wouldn't be dropped and to make sure that no one could look up her skirt.

**Avengers Tower, Later**

The rest of the evening went fairly well. They had actually returned just in time for diner and enjoyed it as a way to unwind from the day. After dinner, Peter found himself checking the news again, just to see if there was anything that had changed over the course of the late afternoon and evening. He found that nothing had really changed. He sighed and decided to head to bed. With the Scriers beaten and no school day for him the next day, he was thinking about sleeping in.

As he entered the bedroom though, he caught a fairly strong whiff of pheromones in the air. The door to the bathroom was open and Peter could see the light was on.

"MJ? You alright?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, I was just checking on something," came Mary Jane's voice from the bathroom.

It was then that Mary Jane emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a pink nightie that practically see-through, and scent of her pheromone powers grew stronger as she came closer.

"Welcome to my parlor, Tiger," Mary Jane gave a knowing smile and was soon kissing her husband passionately.

**To Be Continued…**


	6. Joys Dashed

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 6: Joys Dashed**

**First American Bank**

Mary Jane waited patiently in line to deposit the money, made from the most recent production she had been in, into the account that she and Peter shared. He was teaching today, and both he and MJ had been trying to enjoy the piece and quiet that had been around since they had taken out the last of the Scriers in New York. There were still some common crooks in the city, and the looming threat of the Red Skull, but much of that was a bit beyond the level at which Peter and MJ were involved. Neither of them was involved in politics.

The two of them had also hoped that the temporary quiet would give them the time to have kids, which Peter wanted and so long as she had Peter with her, Mary Jane was perfectly fine with having a child. There had not been enough time yet for Mary Jane to know if their efforts had been successful, but the two of them agreed to play it carefully, just in case they had been. She didn't drink any alcohol and had agreed to only take on her 'Arachne' role as a last resort.

"Next," the teller spoke from her table, allowing Mary Jane to approach, her paycheck in hand.

"I have a check to deposit," Mary Jane spoke as she approached he desk and was about to hand the teller her check when her spider-sense went off at full force.

Mary Jane then turned her head to see the main doors be blasted in by some sort of outside force. People in line behind her screamed and immediately dove out of the way while the tellers nervously stood up. The flying doors missed Mary Jane by several feet, and she watched the damaged entrance to see a man in a padded brown and yellow suit enter the back.

"The Shocker," Mary Jane spoke, recognizing one of her husband's many foes.

"All right, everyone," the Shocker announced as he walked in, his gauntlets buzzing for added effect, "You know the drill. Just hand over your valuables and you won't get hurt."

A couple of security guards moved to get the Shocker to surrender, but the villain only turned and blasted them into a nearby wall with his gauntlets. It wasn't much of a distraction, but it did allow Mary Jane to duck away and begin to nervously search for some way to get changed and then try to stop him. There was a small wooden door, nearby, and she hopped it would lead to a hallway. She dashed for it, ducking down to avoid a blast shot at her, and was rewarded by entering a hallway. The blast destroyed the door, but the Shocker didn't pursue her, which was probably to insure that his attempted robbery would have some hope of success.

As she moved through the hallway, nervously looking for an exit, Mary Jane shuffled through her purse and kept her spider-sense on high alert. By the time she found an exit, she was pulling on her mask and then webbed her civilian clothes to the outside of the wall. Then, Arachne moved to get to the front of the building and the hole that the Shocker had blasted in it.

She arrived to find that the Shocker had forced all of the other customers into a corner and had the tellers pinned to a different wall. He was ranting about he money present in the lobby not being enough. The Shocker raised a fist as though he were about to threw a punch, and Arachne reacted. She fired off a pair of weblines that caught the villain's wrists and pulled him away from the tellers.

"Don't you know they don't do withdrawals after ten AM?" Arachne asked in a teasing voice.

The Shocker looked up thought for a moment and then growled, "Great. You got the webhead's annoying mouth."

He raised one gauntlet to fire a blast of vibrations at Arachne, but she almost didn't need her spider-sense to avoid it. She easily hopped to the side and prepared for the next round.

"Head out the back door," Arachne ordered the other people, "I got this guy."

"You ain't got nothing," the Shocker growled, "No way am I losing to a rookie."

He fired another wave of vibro-blasts at Arachne, but the red-headed heroine leaped over the blast and landed a flying kick to the Shocker's chest, sending him flying into the same wall he had the tellers pinned against.

"NO!" the Shocker yelled, "It can't end this way!"

He got up and charged, looking desperate to at least land punch on Arachne. She only sidestepped him, hit him in the shoulder with a webline and then used that line and his momentum like a slingshot an sent him flying into the opposite wall. With a resounding thud, the Shocker slumped to the ground unconscious. Arachne then webbed him up in a cocoon to make sure he couldn't go anywhere.

Arachne then sighed as she looked about the trashed bank lobby. The Shocker had blasted the doors in, along with the frame, and had flipped the desks over that the tellers sat behind, and that was before she arrived. His attacks only added to the damage. Thankfully though, it didn't look as though he had done any serious structural damage. Regardless, it would mean that her banking mission wouldn't get done.

"So much for depositing that check," Arachne sighed to herself and walked out.

She quickly gathered the web-pouch with her clothing and began swinging back to the tower. She didn't like the interruption, but was grateful that it was the Shocker that had showed up and not someone else. Peter never stayed up worrying about him.

**Midtown High School**

Peter, meanwhile, wasn't worrying about much at the moment. There was still Flash's amnesia to worry about, but since it wasn't total, Peter decided not to push too hard, especially around Flash. His classes for the day went fairly well, and when the day ended, Peter walked out of the building with little cause to really worry about anything, at least not in his own life.

Things had been quiet on the 'Spider-Man' front as he hadn't heard from the Scriers since he and Arachne captured their New York base, which meant he had some spare time before the next major villain decided to return. The only thing on that side that was a concern was all the controversy going on about the Red Skull and the government's either being manipulated by, or an attempt to wrestle more power for itself that was gaining attention.

But, Peter was never that political, and the Red Skull had always been Cap's villain. He could remember a high school history textbook that had a black and white photograph of Cap fighting the Red Skull in some forest during the war. He was more then willing to help, but going to force Cap to let him help, if Cap didn't want it. He steadily made his way toward the Avengers Tower to check on things there. He thought about patrolling, but that could wait, at the moment.

When he arrived at the tower, he found Mary Jane talking with Aunt May in one of the public living rooms.

"Hey there guys," Peter spoke as he entered the room, "anything interesting happen today?"

Both looked up and Mary Jane gave a slight shrug.

"Nothing really exciting," Mary Jane shrugged, "I tried to deposit my paycheck from the last play, but I was prevented from doing so."

"Prevented?" Peter asked curiously.

"The Shocker, Peter," Mary Jane answered, "He blasted in and tried to rob it. By the time it was over, the lobby was pretty much trashed."

"Are you okay?" Peter asked almost immediately, which sounded somewhat strange to him, as it was usually MJ that asked him that sort of question.

Mary Jane nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine. He never even landed a blow on me."

"That's a relief," Peter spoke and moved to sit by his wife, "even though the Shocker is really a second rate villain, like all things in this business, he can be dangerous if you're not careful."

"You do know I'm the one supposed to be giving this speech?" Mary Jane questioned with a slight smirk.

"Yeah, I know, it sounds weird coming from me, too," Peter shook his head, "but you and I both know that neither of us wants to see anything happen to the other, and right now that especially true for you."

"Thanks, Tiger," Mary Jane gave a thankful smile.

"Is everything alright?" came a new voice that was slightly surprising, but not one that Mary Jane and Peter didn't feel unwarned of.

They both turned to see Tony Stark standing just inside the room. He looked fairly nervous, but also genuinely concerned.

"You were saying something about being especially concerned about MJ, is anything wrong?" Tony asked before either of them could ask him why he was there.

"No, nothing is wrong, per say," Mary Jane was the one to answer, "it's that with the Scriers defeated and no other big threat coming at us at the moment, Peter and I have decided to try to have a family before something else comes up."

Tony looked forward for a moment with a slightly distant look and then asked, "Have you been successful in this?"

"We don't really know, yet," Peter answered, "We only began trying about a week ago, and while a real doctor might have the ability to tell whether or not MJ is pregnant, they might also detect the aspects in her bloodstream that allow her to be 'Arachne'. And that is something we'd prefer to keep hidden."

Tony looked somewhat nervous again before he spoke.

"Well, I think I might have some good news, but I know I have some bad news," he spoke slowly.

That attracted the attention of everyone.

"Why don't you give us the good news first," Aunt May suggested before anyone else said anything.

"Well, the good news I can get you in contact with a doctor who will keep Mary Jane's identity secret," Tony answered, "Unfortunately the bad news is that keeping our identities a secret may not be an option anymore."

"What?" Peter gasped as this was a rather surprising development.

"Congress this morning proposed a new Registration Act," Tony answered, "it is currently in the process of committee hearings, but there are forces trying to get it to a direct vote very quickly."

"Did you get them to table such an idea?" Mary Jane asked.

"I proposed that the idea was dangerous," Tony answered, "but, to be honest, registration may be the right thing to do, the problem is that the current bill is not some act designed to insure that new heroes are properly trained and that there are adequate restraints on existing heroes. From what little I've been able to see on the news, the current act is essentially a draft. Every superhuman will have to unmask and report to S.H.I.E.L.D. for both training and then their assignment. And I haven't seen enough yet to know if it goes any farther then that."

"Why would they be using a draft?" Aunt May masked, "I can remember when they drafted NORMAL people to serve in the military. That didn't really work, and it all blew up during Vietnam with protests and such."

"Partially because the Red Skull suggested that nationalizing America's superhuman population and turning them into a government weapon would be the only way to stop the Red Skull," Tony sighed, "at least, that is what Cap told me."

"Wait a minute, the Red Skull tells the President how he can be beaten, and the President believed him?" Peter asked.

"I don't really know," Tony sighed, "more then likely, the Red Skull is playing to ideas that the President would support anyway, but might not be able to get to him otherwise."

"I do not know why we are even talking with that horrid man," Aunt May spoke, hiding little frustration.

"I take it this still has Cap pretty much 'ticked'?" Peter asked after a moment.

Tony nodded, "I'm mostly trying to let everyone know what's going on. Hopefully things get better soon."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Peter asked.

"Not really," Tony sighed, "Cap or I will let you know when things change. In the meantime, I can set Mary Jane up with the doctor to find out if she is pregnant or not."

Peter glanced at Mary Jane for a moment and then at Aunt May. Tony's report on what was happening above their heads had killed any joy that might have been present otherwise in the room. It was eventually MJ that answered.

"That would be very helpful," Mary Jane spoke as respectfully as possible.

"Alright, I'll set it up," Tony answered and left the room.

That left the group alone again in a dimmer mood then they had been originally.

**Ten Minutes Later**

Peter had traded his civilian clothes for his costume and was soon web slinging through the city. A good part of him felt like he had to get out and think things through. He and Mary Jane had defeated the Scriers, yet now it appeared that someone else's plot was beginning to cross into his own life, and almost immediately after he and Mary Jane had decided to reach for a moment of happiness.

He wondered if there was anything he could have done to help stop or prevent this. Could he have said something that could have explained why he never took his mask off; how he felt when things went bad; the own personal hell he went through when the Stacys died. There had to be something he could have done that would have made people less eager to think that an unrepentant Nazi was trustworthy.

To a great extent, a lot of it probably came from the fact that he never followed the political scene very closely so if something changed drastically, he never noticed it. Part of him wondered if he had been more 'political' the way Cap was with his work for the government and S.H.I.E.L.D. or the way Tony was with his work running Stark Enterprises could he have done something to really help.

He was jostled out of his thoughts by a voice speaking from behind him, and the faint buzz of his spider-sense warning him of that person.

"I don't see you here too often," the voice spoke, making Spider-Man turn his head around to see the Falcon flying slowly behind as he swung between buildings.

Spider-Man then looked around and found that his web slinging had taken him into the part of New York that the Falcon routinely protected, Harlem. He quickly altered his course to land on the roof a nearby building, and the Falcon followed.

"You on the trail of someone?" the Falcon asked as he came in for a landing.

"Not really," Spider-Man answered, "I'm just trying to get some air and clear the… clear the cobwebs, so to speak."

The Falcon chuckled slightly at Spider-Man's choice of words.

"Need any help?" the Falcon offered, trying to sound friendly.

"I'm not sure this is something I can get help with," Spider-Man sighed, "It sorta has to deal with the business going on right now between Cap and the Red Skull."

"You know Cap didn't willingly shake he man's hand," the Falcon commented.

"No not that," Spider-Man shook his head, "the registration stuff that's come about because what the Skull has done."

"Man, I doubt there is much we could have done," the Falcon answered, "we weren't there when the President talked with him, and we weren't in any position to advise the President not to. And from what I've heard, they wouldn't even listen to Cap when he tried to talk him out of it."

"Yeah, but there seems to be a lot of people out there who probably wanted this registration stuff to come along that aren't on the Red Skull's side," Spider-Man sighed, "Arachne and I have recently had to deal with a rather large and persistent group of criminals called the Brotherhood of Scriers. When we rounded up the last of them, the new S.H.I.E.L.D. director was there, and was her usual charming self."

"That woman bugs me," the Falcon agreed, "but not much we can do about it. She's the new director since Fury bit off a bit more then he could chew."

"Yeah, well, she directly said I was responsible for nearly all the property damage that is the result of the fights I've gotten into," Spider-Man continued, "and said that if I had been trained by S.H.I.E.L.D. none of that would have happened. I think she's one to want this sort of registration thing."

"And where do you stand on all of this?" the Falcon asked, "You know Cap will be against it, because the Red Skull is the one that proposed it if not for anything else."

"I'm pretty certain that Cap is already against it," Spider-Man answered, "it's thoroughly angered him. I mean really angry. Hulk angry, even."

"What about you?" the Falcon asked.

"I don't really know," Spider-Man answered, "I'm sure there are pluses and minuses to both sides, but I've never been political enough to be able to debate them. And that is one of the main things I'm concerned about now. That I wasn't political enough."

"Being political wouldn't have helped," the Falcon commented, "Not even Cap is political. Being political is doing anything, including underhanded tricks to get a head. Cap has always done what is right, even if it isn't politically wise. Trust me I know."

"I just wonder if there was something I could have done something to try and prevent this," Spider-Man commented.

"I don't think anyone could have 'prevented' this," the Falcon answered, "a lot of people don't like masks and will probably back anything if it gets the mask off, even if it isn't the smartest thing to do to take it off. This sort of thing might have come along anyway. The key will be doing what's right."

"Yeah, well, at the moment, it may be hard to tell what is right anymore," Spider-Man sighed, "thanks for talking with me though. Sorry if I infringed on your turf."

With that, Spider-Man resumed his patrolling, leaving the Falcon to only shake his head before resuming his own mission.

**Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane was fairly surprised that the doctor that Tony had on hand actually practiced in the part of the building that was used by Stark Enterprises. If any member of the Avengers got hurt on a mission, they were usually looked after by the others in the med center in the Avengers residence area, or they were looked after by Jarvis. So going to a facility that was likely for Stark Enterprises staff was not her first guess on where this medical center was. She assumed she'd be sent either to the Baxter Building or the X-Mansion, not that she really wanted Reed Richards or Beast looking between her legs. She didn't. Peter or a licensed gynecologist were the only ones she'd allow there, and then only under condition.

She glanced at Aunt May who was with her, but the older woman only shrugged and they walked in. As they entered the office they found a small waiting room with one or two people waiting and a lone person behind a reception desk.

"Hello, my name is Mary Jane, I believe I should have an appointment with Dr. Klet," Mary Jane spoke carefully to the receptionist.

The young man looked down, then nodded, "Yes, she'll see you shortly."

Mary Jane nodded and moved to sit next to Aunt May, who had already begun reading a magazine. None of the other waiting patients looked up. They waited patiently until a woman with dark brown hair stuck her head out the door.

"Mary Jane?" the woman called.

Mary Jane got up and looked to Aunt May as she put her magazine down. The two then approached the door.

"You don't mind if my Aunt-in-Law comes along?" Mary Jane asked.

"Not at all, although, considering what Mr. Stark explained as the reason for the appointment, I would have thought that the potential father would be here," the woman answered, "I'm Dr. Klet by the way."

Mary Jane nodded, "the father is out trying to clear his head on some things."

"Probably have to deal with all of this weird junk going around concerning the Red Skull, no doubt," Dr. Klet commented, "It's understandable."

Dr. Klet then turned around to look at the strange look that Mary Jane and Aunt May were giving her.

"Don't worry," Dr. Klet told them, "I won't tell anyone. Technically a doctor shouldn't report anything to the public, but some things, like a superhuman identity, are too big for many to keep secret. That's why Mr. Stark hired me years ago to treat various Avengers for standard treatments. Any sort of major illness, baring those caused directly by some super villain, pregnancy, routine physical, all that sort of thing."

"I had always thought the Avengers took care of that stuff by themselves," Aunt May commented, "they seem to be able to treat wounds fairly well."

"They treat wounds well because they've been in the business long enough to know to take some basic first aide," Dr. Klet answered, "and for some, like Cap for example, were probably trained to do basic first aide. With that training they can deal with basic gun shot wounds and non-complicated fractures. And if someone is hurt REAL bad, they have the ability to stabilize them before sending them to an appropriate doctor."

Dr. Klet lead them into small examining room and motioned for Mary Jane to take a seat on the table.

"But none of them have studied basic medical techniques, including specialist fields ranging from proctology to, in our case, gynecology," Dr. Klet finished, "so Mr. Stark hired me and a special team of doctors to take care of these various medical needs when he formed the Avengers. Now, yes, we know their identities, but Mr. Stark has paid us well to insure that we stick to Hippocratic oaths and not divulge your identities to the public."

"I'd take it you also treat Stark Enterprises employees?" Mary Jane asked curiously.

Dr. Klet nodded, "largely to insure that we have steady work in case one of them needs a check-up or some other form of treatment. It actually saves them from having to go to a hospital for some of the small stuff."

Dr. Klet then checked a clipboard she had in her jacket pocket and began looking at the notes she had written when Mr. Stark had made the appointment with her.

"Now, according to what I have here, you're here to test for a possible pregnancy," Dr. Klet then spoke, "am I right?"

"Yes, you see, Peter and I have trying recently, largely in the hopes that I could get through the pregnancy and have the baby before anything big happens," Mary Jane explained.

"One, a baby is a big thing in itself," Dr. Klet told her, "and two, from what I've seen in the news, most superheroes move from one big crisis to another. It's unlikely you and your husband will have quiet time for a full nine months, or even the shorter pregnancy should you have multiples."

"I know, but we'd probably be too old to have children by the time we're too old to be… you know," Mary Jane answered, not really knowing why she wasn't telling her who her other identity was.

"Understandable," Dr. Klet answered, "Now there are a few questions I'd prefer to ask before we move on to anything to super definitive."

Mary Jane nodded.

"Have you been pregnant before?" Dr. Klet asked.

"Yes, but I lost that baby, and that was before I became Arachne," Mary Jane answered deciding it best to come clean.

"You said you and your husband have been trying to have a baby," Dr. Klet then spoke, "can you tell me exactly when your last physical attempt was? When you last had sex?"

"That would actually be a couple of days ago, but we started trying a little over a week ago," Mary Jane answered.

"Have you had any increased urination during this time period? Any morning sickness?" Dr. Klet asked.

"I have been sick on some mornings," Mary Jane answered, "not real bad though."

"When did this start?" Dr. Klet answered.

"A couple of days ago," Mary Jane answered.

Dr. Klet wrote down a series of notes before looking up, "well, judging by your answers, I can say that you might be pregnant, but it would be best to run some urine and blood tests to make sure."

**Elsewhere**

Spider-Man's attempt to clear his head and think things over ended up turning into a real live patrol as he ended up looking around for someone, anyone to fight. Maybe it was something to prove on his part, but he felt he needed something to do other then sit around the tower and mope. As he rounded a corner near the north end of Manhattan, his search for a fight came to an end when his spider-sense went off at full force.

He let go of the webline he was on and did a controlled 'fall' onto a nearby building nearby as the source of his spider-sense buzzed past him. Spider-Man watched as a bee buzzed through the air and into one of the buildings vents at an almost suicidal speed. The insect was killed as a result of the fan's spinning blades. He then turned to look up to see one of his villains that appeared to be an individual made up of many smaller pieces, Swarm.

"Amazing the people you run into in this job, isn't it, Arachnid?" Swarm questioned with a slight smirk.

"Wish some of them were better people," Spider-Man answered and fired a series of weblines, hopping to catch the villain in them, "what are you up to? Am I interrupting some sort of insect convention or something?"

Swarm dodged both weblines and dove down toward Spider-Man.

"No, you're not interrupting anything," Swarm responded, "You're actually right on time. I expect to earn some rewards after taking you down."

"Rewards? From who?" Spider-Man quipped as he dodged the physical blows, "your bank offers you rewards for superheroes?"

"Joke all you want, Spider-Man," Swarm spoke as the bees on his arms began to leave his skeleton to swarm Spider-Man, "but your world is changing and a new force is rising. One that will one day rule the world."

Spider-Man found himself ducking and dodging the bees flew toward him, erecting web-barriers where he could, which trapped a few of them as they tried to pursue Spider-Man. But, these measures didn't stop all of them, and he was forced to wince in pain as he was stung a couple of times.

"Don't tell me you're talking about the Red Skull and all that Nazi stuff," Spider-Man commented, "Cap will beat him in the end just like he always does."

As Spider-Man did a flip to avoid several attacking bees, he fired out a pair of weblines that caught Swarm's exposed skeletal forearms and then threw the ex-Nazi scientist skidding along the top of the roof. Once he came to a stop, Swarm recalled the bees he had sent after Spider-Man.

"The world has changed too much, even for him," Swarm answered, "He still thinks this country is some idealistic white house on a hill. He has not seen what has happened to his country in its search to maintain 'global dominance'. It has surrendered everything that made it great to be powerful, and that will insure your country's fall. And after beating you, the Red Skull will remember my past services to the Third Reich, and I will get to be a real scientist again."

Spider-Man fired several web-balls Swarm, hopping that the webbing would entangle several of the bees that made up Swarm's body and distract Swarm long enough for Spider-Man to find some way to beat him. Swarm couldn't dodge all of them, and as he worked to try and remove the web-balls, Spider-Man noticed that they did remove some of the bees as well.

That made Spider-Man grateful for is ordeal involving the Queen. With his organic webshooters in his wrists, he could afford to draw the fight out, trapping the Swarm's bees in his webbing. He couldn't do that before as he would run out of webbing and would have to change cartridges, which he couldn't do in the middle of a fight.

"You a scientist?" Spider-Man commented, "You're a nut looking for something to make himself more powerful."

"Science exists to make man more powerful," Swarm answered and ordered he bees on one arm to fly forth and make one attack on Spider-Man before returning, "How else do you suppose the limits of human endurance are reached or how new and powerful technology is created. It is not some beaker and burner project you see on television. It is a process through which mankind becomes stronger."

Spider-Man easily dodged the attack, and even caught several bees in an erected web-shield, while he flipped sideways toward the edge of the roof. Swarm, however, noticed that the webbed hero was currently upside down in midair, and sent a group of bees from his other arm to attack Spider-Man while he couldn't dodge.

Spider-Man gave out a pained yell as he felt the bee stings hit his chest. He caught most of them in carefully aimed web-balls, but a few bees managed to make it through his defenses and stung him in the chest. And since these bees were mutated, they did not die the way normal bees did, and they were soon returning to Swarm. The impact knocked Spider-Man off his intended route, and he was forced to swing down to the ground level between the building they had been on and a nearby warehouse. He cringed in pain as he recovered on the ground, and was eternally grateful that his spider-powers had cured him of his allergy to bee stings.

Swarm casually followed Spider-Man down to ground level.

"And my scientific discoveries have made me very powerful," Swarm spoke confidently, "and that will impress the Red Skull enough to do official research in his name."

Spider-Man looked up at the villain and noticed that while Swarm did appear confident, Spider-Man had equal reason to be confident. When Swarm had all his bees with him, he had the bees make him look like a rather muscular human male, but over the course of the present battle as several of Swarm's bees got caught in web-balls, that frame had been reduced significantly. He still looked like a 'man' but his build was much thinner as a result of losing so many bees to Spider-Man's webbing.

"Science is a learning process," Spider-Man retorted, as he fired a few more web-balls at Swarm, "we use it to learn about the world and how it works. Any increases in 'power' are only a side effect of real scientific research. What you do is not science."

Swarm dodged at the last moment and sent some bees from his left arm at Spider-Man, who dodged and caught a few more bees in web-balls.

"Maybe not from your point of view," Swarm answered, "but I doubt the Red Skull shares that viewpoint."

Spider-Man landed on the side of the warehouse when he dodged the attack and glared at Swarm as he continued advance.

"If you really want to impress the Red Skull, you should have gone after Cap, not me," Spider-Man spoke, "He doesn't care about me. The only thing you might get from him for fighting me is a 'congratulations you're stupid award'."

That enraged Swarm beyond all belief. He unleashed nearly all his bees to swarm Spider-Man knowing that he couldn't dodge or web up all of them. Spider-Man cringed as he saw the bees coming. He erected web-shields and threw out several web-balls to stop many of the bees, but there simply too many of them, and the bees were too small for him to dodge. He ended up taking several stings that sent him tumbling to the ground and gasping for breath as the bees retreated back to Swarm.

"Do not think me a fool," Swarm answered, "You are one of America's premiere heroes. One covered extensively in the press, one who has battled and defeated foes stronger then he is, foes better trained in combat then he is, and even those that outnumber you. Beating you will prove that I have the capacity to beat a hero at your level."

"This coming from a guy who's practically a skeleton?" Spider-Man quipped drawing attention to the current status of Swarm's swarm.

Swarm then looked down at his own form and became slightly nervous as Spider-Man regained his feet. He had lost most of his bees, and they were so thinly spread over his body that several of his ribs and his forearm bones and lower leg bones were visible to the eye. The queen bee that he used to control the swarm was not yet visible, but if he lost any more bees, it would, which would put him at risk of being defeated.

"No! You can't do this to me!" Swarm growled and began to move away, "You couldn't have… you would have run out of webbing… you should have by now."

"My powers received two separate upgrades fairly recently," Spider-Man replied with a smile as he stood up, "The Spider-Man you remember is all new and improved. And you are just about out of bees."

"No! It can't end like this!" Swarm roared and began to try and fly away, knowing that while he could probably inflict great pain, if Spider-Man caught more of his bees in his webbing and left the queen exposed, he would be vulnerable until the queen could naturally replace the lost drones or until he found a beekeeper's hive which he could simply take over, "All my plans and hopes! Gone!"

Spider-Man was still feeling the pain of the bee stings he had taken, and was certain that with all his powers he would likely need to be extra careful for the next couple of days to make sure that the sheer volume of venom didn't seriously harm him. But, he couldn't just let Swarm escape. If he was pursuing some attempt to gain recognition or support from a seriously powerful and evil guy like the Red Skull, it was doubtful that he'd leave New York in peace, and the next hero he picks a fight with, might not have the ability to trap large portions of his hive in webbing.

As Swarm tried to fly away, Spider-Man fired off a pair of weblines that caught the villain by his cape. Spider-Man then pulled, which halted Swarm's attempt at escape, as with so many of his bees otherwise trapped, Swarm didn't have the strength to pull the webbing from Spider-Man's hands or even try to pull Spider-Man off the ground. He sent the last group of bees on one leg to chew through the webbing and then return to him.

Spider-Man growled slightly as the Swarm's bees cut through his webbing, freeing him from capture. He quickly launched himself into the air, ignoring the pain and began webslinging after the fleeing criminal. Thankfully for him, Swarm was not able to make great speed in his attempt to flee, apparently the loss of so many bees had also slowed him down. He caught up with the villain after less then a block.

"Come on now," Spider-Man managed to taunt, "you're wanting to impress the Red Skull, shouldn't you do what he'd do? Fight on after he's clearly loss, regardless of the consequences?"

Spider-Man then delivered a kick to Swarm's exposed skeletal ribs, sending him flying onto another rooftop nearby. Spider-Man then landed on the roof to find Swarm slowly getting up, he no longer looked as confident as he did before.

"Some of us are smart enough to pull back and fight another day," Swarm answered and prepared to flee again.

"Now you're just depressing me," Spider-Man quipped back, "You came out all confident, and now you're whimpering. Let me guess? Bipolar, or was that too insulting?"

Swarm didn't answer, and turned to try and run away but Spider-Man caught his cape once again with a webline and slung Swarm into a nearby air-conditioning unit. The villain was slow to get up, and Spider-Man was quick to wrap him in his entirety in webbing, and making it thick enough that that he couldn't get out. He heard faint screams of 'no' coming from inside the web-ball.

Spider-Man then shouldered the entire web-ball and began swinging away. He left it hanging outside a police station with a note that read, 'for the boys in blue, one 'swarmed' villain. Warning, must be kept in glass cage with air holes too small for a bee to climb through. - Spidey'.

**Avengers Tower, Dr. Klet's Office**

Mary Jane sat quietly in the examination room with Aunt May while she waited for Dr. Klet to return with the test results. The blood tests were easy to take as MJ had given blood before and the process of extracting wasn't very different from that, although they didn't take out nearly as much as the times that she had donated blood. The urine test was a little more difficult as she didn't need to use the bathroom. That took about ten large glasses of water and about thirty minutes before Mary Jane was able to go into a nearby restroom with the container and produce a sample.

Now, Mary Jane was waiting for Dr. Klet to return with the results. She twiddled her thumbs while she waited.

"You needn't be so nervous, dear," Aunt May spoke from her seat, "You said that you and Peter were trying to have a baby. You should be happy or at least optimistic by whatever results she comes back with."

"But what if she comes back and I'm not pregnant?" Mary Jane asked.

"From what it sounded like to me, dear, you weren't really complaining about the activities that you and Peter went though to try and conceive," Aunt May pointed out.

Mary Jane blushed at that. She had tried to keep as quiet as possible so that she and Peter didn't bother anyone.

"I'm sorry if we disturbed you," Mary Jane apologized.

"Don't apologize, dear," Aunt May answered, "You're still a young healthy woman married to a young healthy man. It is expected that you engage in such activities. I'd only begin to worry if you were my age."

Mary Jane managed a slight chuckle at Aunt May's joked.

"You don't mind?" Mary Jane asked, "because if you heard us, that means we likely kept you up…"

"Jarvis was more then willing to let me sleep with him," Aunt May answered, "You needn't worry. And don't tell Peter. I don't think he's entirely gotten used to my dating again."

Mary Jane did chuckle at that. Peter was getting used to it, but it was obvious that it wasn't very easy for him.

"He's probably wrestling with the fact that you are a sort of mother figure to him, and that Ben was a father figure to him," Mary Jane commented, "Your present dating is likely clashing with his memories of you and his Uncle Ben."

Aunt May only shook her head and was about to answer when the door opened and Dr. Klet entered the room. She held a small stack of papers in her hands. Mary Jane and Aunt may quickly turned to pay undivided attention to her.

"Well, we've completed all the tests that need to be done," Dr. Klet spoke, "including a few that are required for basic procedure. Your blood is slightly radioactive, although, like your husband, that's likely what gives your powers. I would advise, however, that you not donate blood anymore. The radiation that isn't harming you could either harm others, or create more 'spider-people'."

"And I've gone through that hoop already," Mary Jane nodded, and then asked, sounding rather hopeful, "what about he pregnancy tests? Am I going to have a baby?"

Dr. Klet opened the folder with her and brought out the papers that related to the results.

"Usually a urine test is sufficient, and is generally required," Dr. Klet began, "However, since you say you've only just begun to experience morning sickness related symptoms, it might not be likely that the urine test would indicate anything, at present. Those tests reinforced that."

Mary Jane sighed and gave a defeated glance to Aunt May.

"However, the blood tests are bit more refined," Dr. Klet then spoke, which made Mary Jane look up.

**Later**

Peter was very slow to enter the tower after his attempt to cool off, which quickly turned into a patrol and fight with Swarm. The stings he had taken were swelling up, and he honestly, had all he could do to make it back to the tower. At the moment, all he wanted to simply rub some ice on the stings and lay down. He ran into Jessica Drew as the lone female Avenger at the moment seemed to be on the way out.

"You don't look so great there, Spider-Man," Jessica commented, "What happened? You get in a fight with a beekeeper?"

"You could say that," Peter answered, "Ever hear of a guy named Swarm?"

Jessica shook her head. If she had heard or tangled with him, she couldn't remember at the moment.

"He's an ex-Nazi who somehow turned himself into a creature made up entirely of bees," Peter told her, "I just spent a good while webbing him up."

"He roughed you up as well," Jessica noted looking Peter's swollen cheeks.

"I know," Peter nodded, "right now my mission is to get some medicated ointment and some ice, and then lay down."

"Let me help," Jessica told him, "It'll make things easier."

She then helped him get down to the medical center inside the Avengers living quarters, where Jarvis was checking on some of the equipment. When he saw the webbed Avenger, he paled slightly.

"Are you alright, sir?" Jarvis asked as Jessica sat him down on medical table.

"Fine," Peter answered, "Just a little sore and swollen. Something to deal with bee stings would be helpful."

Jarvis looked to Jessica, who looked like she was late for something already and was wanting to get a move on.

"I'll look after him," Jarvis spoke, "his family should be returning soon from Mary Jane's appointment. You can get going."

Jessica nodded and left Peter alone in the room with Jarvis and left.

"I can take of everything," Peter told the Avengers Butler as he looked a nearby cabinet.

"I'm sure, Mister Parker, but it appears you have at least twelve bee-stings that appear to be seriously swollen," Jarvis answered, "I am trying to save you the pain of having to aggravate them at the moment. Although I doubt the swelling will be down by the time your wife and Aunt return."

"That should be down by tomorrow," Peter answered, "the Swarm's bees don't lose their stingers and die the way a normal bee would. I will need to lie still with some bags of ice though."

"I'm sure," Jarvis answered, "although I'm sure you'd prefer your bedroom or the living room to the med-center."

Peter nodded and let Jarvis place the last bits of ointment that would help relieve the swelling and the pain.

Ten minutes later, Peter was laying in his bed, half asleep when his spider-sense buzzed and Mary Jane rushed into the room, literally bouncing off the walls. That succeeded in waking him up as he watched her bounce around the walls, obviously excited about something.

"You seem happy about something," Peter spoke slowly, which finally gained MJ's attention.

It was then that she noticed that Peter was laying on top of all the blankets in his boxers and had a couple of bags of ice on him. Her mood became more concerned.

"What happened to you?" Mary Jane asked as she moved to sit next to him on the bed, and checked under one of the bags of ice, "you're covered in bee stings."

"Yeah, ran into the Swarm while I was out," Peter answered, "Not a really dangerous villain, but I need to rest to let my system clear out the bee venom."

"You're sure you're alright?" Mary Jane asked, "I don't want you thinking that our agreement is an excuse for you to get yourself killed."

Peter slowly nodded, "The swelling will be down enough to function by this evening and should be completely gone by tomorrow."

"That's good," Mary Jane smiled.

"And speaking of our agreement," Peter then spoke slowly, "how was your appointment, and did have anything to do with the excitement with which you've displayed upon your return?"

"The appointment went well," Mary Jane nodded and leaned over to kiss Peter on the cheek, "and we were successful."

"You're…?" Peter asked, putting on a hopeful smile.

"I am," Mary Jane smiled, "and for the moment, I am the happiest woman in New York. We really hit the jackpot, Tiger."

Mary Jane then leaned down and kissed him again. Peter did try to kiss her back, but the swelling on his cheeks from Swarm's bees prevented him from being real effective at reciprocating his wife's affection.

"Ow, ow, ow," Peter whimpered, making MJ pull back, "sorry, MJ, it's the swelling. As I said, I probably won't be very functional until this evening."

"I'll leave you to getting better then," Mary Jane smiled and got off the bed to let Peter rest for the moment.

**That Evening**

Peter, Mary Jane, Aunt May, and Jarvis were eating a quiet dinner in the main kitchen area of the tower. The swelling from the bee stings had in fact gone down, and Peter was able to move about without gritting through intense pain, for which he was grateful. They were largely celebrating the conformation of Mary Jane's pregnancy, and Aunt May had baked a chocolate cake that looked quite good.

As they were eating, however, a very frustrated looking Tony appeared in the doorway. He was still largely in his Iron Man armor, but the helmet and mask were up, allowing them to see his face. The red and gold armor also showed signs of a serious fight. Nothing appeared to be really out of place, but it was covered in dirt and the paint didn't look as bright as what it normally did. Jarvis was quick to stand up.

"Is their something wrong, sir?" Jarvis asked, before anyone else could ask.

"Yes," Tony spoke, clearly sounding frustrated.

Peter and Mary Jane turned their chairs to look at the armored Avenger.

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"You haven't seen the news?" Tony asked sounding surprised.

"I was resting, largely," Peter answered, "had a run in with the Swarm and needed to give my body some time to beat the bee stings."

"I had the appointment yet set up for me," Mary Jane added.

"What's happened?" Aunt May asked.

"A group of villains that escaped from the Raft attacked Stamford, Connecticut today," Tony said with a sigh, "S.H.I.E.L.D. sent Cap and I up there to deal with it, but they didn't want the 'local' heroes getting involved."

"The New Warriors?" Peter asked, "No one they fight has been powerful enough to be sent to the Raft. At least no one they fight on a regular basis, anyway."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. probably took that into account, but I think their real reason is because the New Warriors have capitalized on much of the 'reality TV' craze and have begun filming their capturing of muggers, robbers, and on occasion a mobster type trying to get out of New York," Tony sighed.

"They weren't shooting there, were they?" Mary Jane asked.

"Not that Cap or I could tell, but they showed up to help as we arrived," Tony continued, "and they helped out quite well. They got the kids in the school out and to a safe distance, however, one of the villains, Nitro unleashed a blast larger then what we have listed here at the tower that he is capable of."

"Great, so the guy out does his potential," Peter sighed, "I take it that isn't the worst part?"

"The blast practically leveled a few city blocks," Tony nodded, "the students and staff had been saved, but Speedball, and probably close to fifty other people were killed. Some of them were local residents and some were law enforcement and paramedics. And Nitro could be dead, as we didn't expect him to produce an explosion of that magnitude, but that's unlikely."

Everyone was completely shocked by all of this.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Hill will be making her report to the government shortly, if she hasn't already," Tony continued, "and will likely word it so that there is no chance of the Registration Act NOT passing Congress."

Peter and Mary Jane looked nervously on.

"It's partially why I was nervous when you mentioned that you might be pregnant, Mary Jane," Tony spoke, "because if the act passes, given Cap's belief that it is wrong, and Hill's likely determination to enforce it, things will not get better in the near future."

Peter and Mary Jane traded very frightened looks with one another. Any joy that they had felt prior to this announcement at Mary Jane's pregnancy was dashed.

**To Be Continued…**


	7. Mysteries Revealed

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee. No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 7: Mysteries Revealed**

**Avengers Tower**

"You're going along with all this?" Steven Rogers, more commonly known as Captain America, questioned, "but you've held on to your secret identity harder then most. I would have thought you'd be against the act."

Peter sighed heavily and sat back in one of the office chairs in the room that Stark had set aside for the Avengers and affiliated heroes to meet in. Things had been crazy since the incident in Stamford. The Registration Act had quickly, and in an unorthodox manner passed Congress, although it was yet to officially go into effect. This kept Steve in a rather nervous and frustrated manner as he appeared to be gathering heroes who wouldn't be following the Registration Act. At least not the way that S.H.I.E.L.D. would be enforcing it.

"I don't have much choice, Cap," Peter said nervously, as he respected the star spangled Avenger tremendously, "but with MJ pregnant again, I'm no really in a position to go against the Registration Act. She'll need monthly medical check ups, and I can't leave her."

"The act is wrong, Peter," Steve spoke, sounding to Peter much like Uncle Ben did when he was trying to explain something, "It'll be worse for you and Mary Jane and for your children if it lasts."

Peter sighed again. This all played with his dislike of the Registration Act and the overall situation that it played to. It seemed like the Red Skull was trying to get America's superheroes to fight each other. It was a rather straightforward plan on the Nazi's part, but it was a tough enough situation that it wasn't likely that he was going to be dethroned anytime soon.

He wanted to help Cap, but with MJ pregnant again, she needed him more in the short term then Cap did. Especially since he had always beaten the Red Skull before. He hoped that Cap could beat his long time foe, and thus thwart the worst of what seemed to be coming. That would allow him to look after MJ while she went through her second pregnancy.

And from what Tony had told him and MJ, that he and Cap had worked something out to try and keep America's heroes from fighting each other.

"I can't chance MJ getting hurt, Cap," Peter sighed, "besides, you remember what Hill did when Xorn attacked Genosha through Canada and us."

Steve slowly nodded and gave a heavy sigh.

"Thanks to Hill's paid psychics, she already knows who I am, and has likely figured out Arachne's real identity by our association together," Peter continued, "And in Mary Jane's current condition, it wouldn't be wise for her to go into hiding, at least not in the states anyway."

"What will you do if things get to the point where you'll have to go into hiding regardless?" Steve asked him.

"I don't know," Peter sighed, giving him a very defeated look, "that's one of the things that I really don't like about his whole mess. There seems to be good bits and bad bits to this whole thing, and I'm running out of ways to keep track of it all."

Steve only shook his head and sighed, sensing he wasn't going to get much out of the situation. He was about to stand up and thank Peter for his time when a blonde haired woman in a S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform rushed in.

"Sharon?" Steve asked in a surprised voice.

"I came as quickly as I could," Agent 13, Sharon Carter answered, ignoring Peter, "but Director Hill just had the New Warriors arrested."

"WHAT?!" Steve roared.

"She really didn't want us letting them into the battle at Stamford, Steve," Sharon told him, "They're being held on various charges, including violating the Registration Act."

Steve only gave a low growl of frustration and turned back to Peter, "I need to go and deal with this. Think about what I've said, Peter. Tony and I may try to avoid a real fight, but that doesn't mean that Hill or the Skull will make that easy. I pray you're doing the right thing."

Peter then watched him exit the room with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and sighed, "me too, Cap. Me too."

Meanwhile Aunt May and Mary Jane were looking through a series of documents that Tony had put before them to look through. Most of it were print outs of the Registration Act and one or two pieces of S.H.I.E.L.D. documents that indicated how Hill intended to enforce the act.

"I'm not lawyer, but a lot of this looks rather harsh," Aunt May spoke.

"It's ideologically driven," Tony sighed, "the government wants absolute control over America's heroes and Hill wants to look the person who's ordered everything perfectly."

"This isn't right," Mary Jane spoke, "it will essentially enslave us to the government."

"That is generally Cap's opinion," Tony sighed, "both of us fear that all of this is part of the Red Skull's plan to destroy the country, to try and get us to fight one another."

"You don't intend to fight him do you?" Aunt May asked nervously.

"Cap?" Tony asked back, "No. I might be able to win, but Cap is a good enough leader that we'd destroy the country fighting each other. Which I would think is why the Skull has put forward these plans."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments before Tony continued.

"I think the Registration Act has its good points that could make it worth it," Tony spoke, "there are new heroes being born every day, one way or another. And the Avengers can not train all of them. We've been working to train the Young Avengers on our own…"

"Peter's been training me," Mary Jane added.

Tony nodded, "but we can't train everyone. Not all at once. Using S.H.I.E.L.D. as a training institution might prevent new heroes from making a terrible mistake."

"The divisiveness is not a good thing though," Aunt May told him in a scolding voice, "If the government wants heroes properly trained, that's one thing. But they're using a lot 'vinegar' in this act. And everyone knows you'll catch more flies with sugar."

"I know," Tony answered, backing away from the elderly woman, "And Cap and I don't like the divisiveness in it either. I know Cap is against the act, and if he ends committing a rather extensive act of civil disobedience to stop the Red Skull, I'll do my best to make sure that no one actually fights him or anyone who sides with him while the Red Skull's plans still function."

"Seems like that's the only good thing we're going to get out of all this for now," Mary Jane said nervously.

"It's another good reason to reconsider what you will do about your pregnancy," Tony commented, "at least until all of this is cleaned up."

"I'm not aborting he child, if that is what you're asking me to do," Mary Jane said firmly, "The circumstances may make this tough, but I have to hope that things will turn out okay eventually. And besides, Peter and I both agreed to 'register' so I can continue to see a doctor."

"Very optimistically minded of you," Tony sighed, "I'm afraid I can't share in it. The world's become an awfully scary place of late."

**Elsewhere**

"It's happened," the chief Scrier Priest spoke nervously before the Scrier that lead the entire Brotherhood of Scriers, "America has passed this Registration Act, essentially allying itself with the Red Skull."

"What of the 'black spiders'?" the leader of the Scriers asked, "have they made an appearance, yet?"

"Not yet," the Priest answered, "but I would seriously consider preparing now for whenever they will appear. We must prepare our spells and warriors, and it would be preferable to get warriors ready to fight Spider-Man for us."

"The Manhattan sect tried that, to take out both Osborn and Spider-Man," the leader replied, "and failed both times. I believe these super powered criminals are largely overrated. Unless some of Norman Osborn's caliber lands in our laps, I doubt we'll get much in the way of adequate cannon fodder."

"We're trying to kill Norman Osborn," the priest pointed out.

"Exactly my point," the leader answered, "We sent Venom after Spider-Man and Arachne, and he was defeated. The only one who stands a chance is Norman Osborn and his Green Goblin persona, but since he must die, we must turn to other defenses. More powerful magics, and up our training. There are no good super villains available to us, and with our Manhattan base destroyed, we can't even get sub-par super villains to distract the arachnid."

"Perhaps we do not need to use a villain," the Priest offered, "Not every hero share's Spider-Man's personal nobility. There are some that quite willingly dive into darkness to stop the crimes they notice."

"But few of those heroes would stand a reasonable chance against Spider-Man alone," the leader responded, "Let alone with his partner."

"We may not have a choice, sir," the priest answered, "as our bases in other countries might be able to get in touch with local heroes outside America's borders, which could be our only hope to keep Spider-Man distracted and find out who these 'black spiders' are."

**Avengers Tower**

Maria Hill stalked angrily through the tower that Tony Stark had set aside for his Avengers. She was reasonably impressed with the technological facilities at his disposal, especially with its compatibility with most S.H.I.E.L.D. programs, which she didn't initially expect.

"You seem to have installed everything one could need in this business," Hill spoke calmly, trying to hide the fact that she was impressed.

"Well, for me, it never hurts to have the right technology," Tony answered her as he followed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director in his armor with the helmet removed, "and I've never been against working with S.H.I.E.L.D. in case you're wondering about how our systems are compatible."

"It's a shame that more of your compatriots were more willing to work with S.H.I.E.L.D.," Hill responded remembering why she was moving S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters to the Avengers Tower, Cap's betrayal and Namor's attack on the helicarrier.

Sensing the moment wasn't right to argue, Tony moved toward a nearby door, hoping what was behind it would make the S.H.I.E.L.D. director feel better.

"Well, this may make you feel better," Tony said, "but not all of the heroes in or associated with the Avengers entirely agree with Cap."

Hill looked in to see a red headed woman and a brown haired man, both in the red and blue costumes of Spider-Man and Arachne. Hill sensed the man's identity was real as she remembered that her psychics had easily discovered Spider-Man's identity. She would have to guess that the red head was who she was dressed as.

"Am I supposed to be impressed by this, Stark?" Hill questioned coldly, "the hero that causes more property damage than any other and 'look my top fell off'?"

"I was never in any nude pictures," Mary Jane growled back, "We're willing to register, but…"

"But nothing," Hill snapped back, "You register, you work for me, you do what I say, understand?"

"We understand," Peter answered, restraining Mary Jane slightly.

"Good," Hill answered, "and I am grateful that you are deciding register. It shows that some of you people have some common sense. Although, it will be better that your identities are not released beyond S.H.I.E.L.D. for the moment."

"Why is that?" Peter asked curiously, "I was to understand that the Registration Act said that everyone had to go public."

"Everyone has to go to S.H.I.E.L.D.," Hill corrected, "If it doesn't suit us for you to go public, your status will be kept on file, and for the first mission we intend to send you on, it would be best that your identity is not broadcast to the world, yet."

Peter and Mary Jane traded glances. Mary Jane was only in costume to register and let Hill know that she was pregnant.

"You're not sending us after Cap, are you?" Mary Jane asked nervously.

"No," Hill responded, "You couldn't beat him. Too amateurish against a trained soldier. You are to report to the main computer rooms at six hundred hours tomorrow morning and your mission will be explained then. You're both dismissed for now."

Peter and Mary Jane glanced to Tony who only shrugged and let them leave.

"That could have gone better," Peter sighed as he and MJ began walking toward the private area where the Avengers resided, which Tony assured them that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents wouldn't get access to, "Her attitude hasn't changed any."

"I half expected her to have us go through three dozen 'basic training' drills," Mary Jane responded, "Maybe she's softening."

"I think that has more to do with what happened to the helicarrier," Peter sighed, "Tony invited her, since Namor and the Atlantians trashed the helicarrier, but she likes to appear powerful, and accepting Tony's 'charity' doesn't appear strong. She'll be fully back to her rude self tomorrow."

"I think she was rude now," Mary Jane grumbled, "Implying that I'd take my top off for anyone."

"One, I think she's jealous," Peter answered, "Two, I don't think she was hugged enough as child, and three, there is no way she knows that you're a very sensible person. Not some 'floozy' as Aunt May would put it."

"Careful, Tiger," Mary Jane gave him a slight grin, sensing he was trying to keep their spirits up, "You might get yourself in trouble with someone other then S.H.I.E.L.D. for that."

"Me in trouble?" Peter quipped, "Perish the thought."

The two then entered the main kitchen area where they found Aunt May making a pitcher of lemonade. She noticed their arrival almost immediately.

"So, how did it go?" Aunt May asked as she turned around and placed the full pitcher on the table and then went for some glasses.

"About as good as can be expected with Director Hill," Peter sighed, "She'll accept that we'll register, but she doesn't like us and considering the fight between Namor and the helicarrier and Cap going underground today, I don't think she had time to deal with us right now."

Aunt May gave a really heavy sigh. It clearly showed that she was uncomfortable with everything that was going on in the background.

"Are you sure you two are doing the right thing?" Aunt May questioned, "all of this being so divisive. You shouldn't be fighting other heroes, and this Hill woman seems determined to help the Skull start a fight among the heroes."

"I really don't know, Aunt May," Peter sighed, "but I'm certain that I don't have much of a choice. Hill's people are already calling Cap a terrorist and a traitor for not following the act. If we were to go against the act, we would be driven underground too. With MJ pregnant again, I don't think we can afford to do that."

Aunt May then gave a defeated sigh. Both Peter and Mary Jane had been so happy when they learned that she was pregnant again, now it seemed that her pregnancy was forcing decisions that they would regret. Aunt May knew she couldn't force anything the other way because she also knew that Peter was right. Even if 'registration' was wrong, Hill would make sure that the two sides fought. Siding with Cap didn't look like it would make the situation better, and with Mary Jane pregnant, she couldn't afford to be on the most wanted list.

"This is all so frustrating," Aunt May sighed, "it doesn't look like anything we could do would be right."

"I'm sorry, Aunt May," Peter sighed.

"There isn't much you could do to avert this," Aunt May sighed again, "you're caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Hopefully your friends are able to fix this situation quickly."

**Symkaria**

The mercenary heroine, Silver Sable, was working out alone in a gym that the Wild Pack ran in Symkaria. Around her were several dummies made to look like the Red Skull. Many of them had her chias embedded in the material. She leaped into the air and decapitated one of the dummies with a strong swinging kick. Like many around the world, she hated the current situation involving the Red Skull and his 'axis' with the United States. She had dedicated her life to hunting Nazi war criminals and other high level criminals around the world, and usually for a very good price.

Now, the ultimate Nazi was ruling a country he raised out of nowhere, and the US had allied itself with him over their 'war on terror' policies, which the Symkarian government criticized as too aggressive and motivated by arrogance. But the Symkarian leadership had told Silver that she couldn't lead the Symkarian army against the Red Skull or event take the Wild Pack in because of border threats from Latveria, and the concern that such action cut off American aid, which Symkaria continued to need since the end of World War II.

That did not change Silver's opinion of the Red Skull and what she wished to do with the criminal who had overseen many of the SS's crimes in Symkaria. As she landed she heard the sound of someone clapping behind her, which made her turn quickly. She found it was a lone man standing near the door to the gym. He was dressed in black robes and appeared to have white skin.

"Who are you?" Silver Sable demanded, "How did you get in here? This is for the Wild Pack, only."

"You can relax," the man spoke, "I am an agent of the Brotherhood of Scriers and we have a proposition for you."

"How did you get in here?" Silver Sable demanded again.

"I have my ways, now would you please listen to me?" the Scrier answered, "I promise you and your Wild Pack will be paid extremely well."

"Go ahead," Silver Sable spoke, willing to listen if the strange robed man was willing to pay for work that the Wild Pack could do.

"I'm sure you're well aware of the Red Skull's present actions, by your gym here," the Scrier spoke, "but I feel I must inform you that the Red Skull's plan is far more devious then raising an island."

"He likely seeks to destroy the United States as he has tried to do several times before," Silver Sable answered, "it is the fact that America has not rejected him that caused my government to recall me and the Wild Pack from Symkaria's New York Embassy."

"Yes," the Scrier nodded, "by forcing America's heroes to fight each other. To our knowledge, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony Stark are working together to support the Red Skull's plans, while Captain America is working to thwart his long time foe."

"I have seen the news," Silver Sable retorted, "I and my Wild Pack are more then willing to fight the Red Skull, but my government is fearful that he is too powerful, and such a battle would leave Symkaria weak before Latveria and the other nations of the Balkans."

"If there is likely to be a battle with the Red Skull, Captain America will fight that battle," the Scrier spoke, "what we want you to do is to take down a hero who has just signed on to help S.H.I.E.L.D. in its plans to aid the Red Skull."

"You wish me to take down Stark?" Silver Sable asked, "that would be dangerous considering the technology and allies at his disposal."

"Not Stark," the Scrier answered, "Our sources indicate that he is somehow working with Captain America. We want you to kill Spider-Man."

That made Silver Sable blink.

"I know Spider-Man," Silver Sable spoke, sensing that this Scrier wasn't entirely telling the truth, "He is many things, including non-professional, but he is not a Nazi or even a Nazi supporter. I highly doubt he would side with those that are supporting the Red Skull."

The Scrier then produced a small laptop from inside his robes and handed it to Silver. She looked at the screen to see that it was on the S.H.I.E.L.D. webpage, and specifically the list of registered heroes. The list started with Tony Stark/Iron Man, and about halfway down there was Identity Classified for Training Purposes/Spider-Man and Identity Classified for Training Purposes/Arachne.

"We believe S.H.I.E.L.D. will soon be using Spider-Man and Arachne to go after heroes throughout the United States who support Captain America and his drive to save his country from the Red Skull," the Scrier spoke.

"I can't believe this," Silver Sable spoke with some disbelief.

"It is always hard to believe things when it's a friend who betrays one's friendship," the Scrier commented.

"I expect to be paid one hundred thousand dollars, American, for Spider-Man per day it takes to capture him and fifty thousand dollars, American, per day for Arachne," Silver Sable then demanded, "If they have sided with the Red Skull, I will turn them over to you and you can do what you want with them."

"Agreed," the Scrier bowed respectfully, "that is suitable, I suppose."

**Avengers Tower, Next Day**

Spider-Man and Arachne found themselves walking toward the main computer rooms that the Avengers used. Neither was really tired, but they were both uncertain of what to expect. Other then being insulted and told they were expected go through boot camp, they didn't know what would happen. As they entered the room they were totally shocked by what they saw.

Director Hill was there, looking as cross as she normally did, but that wasn't what shocked the two arachnid themed heroes but the being that was in the room with her, and heavily restrained. It was the massive black and white form of Venom, yet there were things that creped them out because of their differences with recent memories. The white spider symbol on his chest was not the new style that Mac Gargan wore, but the symbol that had been on the black costume Spider-Man had worn in the past. The mask of the symbiote was also gone, and showed the face, not of Mac Gargan, but Eddie Brock.

"What the hell…!" Spider-Man gasped in shock while Arachne was not even able to say one word.

"Surprised to see us, Parker?" Brock asked in a rather sarcastic voice, "You look as though you've seen a ghost."

"In a way I am," Spider-Man gasped, "You're dead. I saw the news report that you committed suicide. And I've fought two Venoms that were using someone other then Eddie Brock as a host"

"You shouldn't believe everything you read in the Bugle," Brock replied with a smirk, "You of all people should know that."

"Ahem," Maria Hill coughed to get the attention of the people in the room, "I believe this is best explained from the beginning, as part of the mission that Spider-Man and Arachne are to go on for S.H.I.E.L.D."

"That brings up a different topic," Arachne stepped forward, "I am willing to register, but at the present time, I'm pregnant. Spider-Man and I are going to have a baby.

"Are you showing yet?" Hill asked.

"Not yet," Arachne answered confused, "but that shouldn't be an issue. I'm still carrying a human life within me."

"You will serve S.H.I.E.L.D. until your pregnancy becomes physically apparent," Hill answered, "just as female police officers and soldiers do in your present situation."

Arachne backed away from arguing further. Hill had spoken in a voice that didn't seem to allow for an argument. Spider-Man, however, wasn't deterred.

"I didn't know there were desk jobs for super heroes," Spider-Man quipped.

"There aren't," Hill growled icily, "Your wife will aide you in field work until her pregnancy becomes physically apparent. Then you will receive a new partner. If not, I will release Venom here. The REAL Venom, and let him remove two of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s minor annoyances once and for all."

Spider-Man gasped at that, and while he felt he could beat Venom eventually, he couldn't risk MJ in her condition, and right now he was to curious about how Brock could be there to really want to fight.

"Fine," Spider-Man sighed, defeated, "But what do you mean, 'real' Venom. Venom is the symbiote. Brock was only a host. And Brock committed suicide after selling the host to Don Fortunato, who gave it to his son Angelo."

"Director Hill is referring to your encounter with me prior to that battle," Brock said with a smile, "surely you remember our engagement when I was dying? Don't you, Pete?"

**The Past…**

The Venom Symbiote lunged forward toward Spider-Man hoping to bond with him for the last time.

"No! You still do not understand," the symbiote shrieked, sounding desperate, "can not have Brock. Must have YOU! A child grows within me."

"A child?" Spider-Man repeated confused as he tried hop away, "You're pregnant?"

Spider-Man then remembered that the Venom symbiote could reproduce asexually. It didn't need either a host or a female symbiote to produce offspring, necessarily. Figuring that out didn't help him much as the symbiote made contact with him and knocked him to the ground. It then loomed over Spider-Man.

"Please, Spider-Man…" the symbiote seemed to beg, "you must accept. Life depends on it. Will give you so much in return."

Spider-Man glared back at the symbiote. It's attacking cancer patients to feed weighed on his mind, the fact that it feed off of Brock's cancer for so long. It wasn't a 'symbiote' really. Symbiotic creatures help one another for mutual benefit with neither being harmed. Outside of Brock, the symbiote would likely kill him by draining him of adrenaline, unless it found some other way to get it.

"Uhh… ehh… sure," Spider-Man retorted sarcastically, "for as long as I can keep up the supply of adrenaline… You're not a symbiote. You're a PARASITE!"

The symbiote then landed a powerful blow on him that sent him flying, conveniently near Brock, who while weak, was still breathing.

"Brock is diseased!" the symbiote growled, "he can not sustain us. You are the one."

"Uhh… become plant food for the pansy from Planet X?" Spider-Man quipped shooting out a webline, "That's not much of a choice."

The webline successfully hit Brock, although the symbiote didn't realize that at the time.

"You missed," the symbiote taunted, "you are weak."

"I never miss," Spider-Man answered, pulling on the webline, pulling Brock into the symbiote, and forcing it to bond with him.

The symbiote screamed as it bonded with Brock again, forming Venom. Supposedly forever.

**The Present…**

"But the papers, Angelo Fortunato…" Spider-Man gasped.

"Lies," Brock answered in an angry voice, "Fortunato, Gargan, they bonded with the child that we carried. The child you rejected and refused to raise with us. How else do you think that their version of my costume looked so different from us?"

"But you'd said that I'd stolen it," Spider-Man retorted, "Killed it."

"You stole it, yes," Brock answered, "but not in the way you think. We only wanted to raise it with you, possibly give our child to your wife so that we could always be together and so that she would never be in danger again, but you put us with Brock insuring that our child would feel his anger and hatred that we would feel his anger and hatred, making our child much like Carnage. One who does not even have Brock's sense of honor."

"But then if Fortunato and Gargan bonded with your 'child', what about Brock?" Arachne asked, "the Brock that died, I mean."

"That is where your friends the Scriers came in," Brock answered, "Shortly after your husband forced us to be with Brock, we left to have the child that your husband rejected. We knew it would be deformed… imperfect… but we couldn't stop its birth…"

**Trenton, New Jersey, the Past…**

Eddie Brock slumped quietly into darkened hotel room to watch some television, hoping to catch something that would lift his spirits or at least the symbiote's, which had been angrily demanding revenge on Spider-Man for making them bond again. Brock, personally didn't mind. The symbiote and he could never be separated, and thus symbiote's desire to return to Spider-Man didn't matter, although he did resent the fact that symbiote still wanted Spider-Man.

He was about to reach for the remote when he suddenly doubled over in pain and took on the form of Venom. He screamed with pain as the symbiote birthed the offspring that it had wanted to have with Spider-Man. Unlike the Carnage symbiote, which was red, this one was the same shade of black as Venom. As the new symbiote crawled away from Venom, the door to the hotel exploded under the blast of a sonic weapon, which sent pain through both Venom and the newly birthed symbiote. Weakened from birthing the new symbiote, Venom was in no position to fight and dropped unconscious. The last thing he saw were several Scriers standing over him.

"Can he kill Osborn?" one Scrier asked.

"He has the power to do so, if he can be controlled," the leading Scrier answered, "if he can be controlled."

"What about the baby symbiote?" a third Scrier questioned.

"Contain it," the leading Scrier ordered, "it may prove useful should the original prove unwilling."

**The Present…**

"The Scriers told us of their revenge plot against Norman Osborn," Brock explained, "but we learned that they didn't want Brock either. They wanted the symbiote, and when our bond proved permanent, they took our child to use it."

"But the Brock that showed up here and sold the symbiote and committed suicide?" Spider-Man asked, "that wasn't a clone, was it?"

"That was a Scrier who had used a specialized spell to disguise himself as Brock," Director Hill interjected into the conversation, "unfortunately for the Scriers, the use of dark magic made such an idea difficult. The Scrier gained not only the appearance of Brock, but also seemed to gain his suicidal tendencies. As a result that plan failed and they gave up on using Venom to kill Osborn."

Spider-Man and Arachne then turned to look at Hill looking slightly surprised that the S.H.I.E.L.D. director knew that.

"Their plans involving Venom were among the documents that we collected at their Newark base," Hill answered, "among many other things. We then used that information to find where they were holding Brock to get additional information and find a possible agent to defeat the Scriers."

"You can't use him," Arachne said, pointing at Brock, "he' a bad guy, psychotic serial killer. He's just as likely to kill you as help you."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. will work with whoever it wants to work with," Hill answered, "and if you want to remain on the right side of the Registration Act, you will not question my orders. Understood?"

"Fine," Arachne sighed.

"Now," Hill spoke calmly, going into the main mission briefing, "our discovery of the Scrier base in Newark has uncovered a lot about their 'brotherhood', in addition to finding the real Eddie Brock."

Hill then pressed a button that activated a holographically projected map of the world. On it were several dots that looked like a Scrier's head, while there were a few others that looked like the letter 'X'.

"Now, S.H.I.E.L.D. has been working to shut down these Scrier bases, and has been relatively successful," Hill explained, "but with the present Registration crisis and Cap betraying his country, we can not afford to continue this hunt on our own. That is where you come in."

Hill then turned to face both of them rather then the image she had projected.

"The Scriers are criminal threats, but their threat is only large so long as their global network remains in tact," Hill spoke, "The job of breaking down that network falls you two, and when Arachne's pregnancy becomes physically apparent, we'll partner Spider-Man with someone else."

"So where do you want us to start?" Spider-Man sighed.

"Today you will be working to finish of the Scrier activity in the US," Hill instructed, "which will mean stops in Detroit, Denver, and Seattle. We'll provide you with transport to those locations and directions to each base once you get there. There will also be a squad of cape-killers who will supervise the mission."

Spider-Man and Arachne then nodded.

"You'd best get going," Hill spoke, "your transport is already waiting and you have a long day ahead of you."

**Detroit, Two Hours Later**

Spider-Man and Arachne looked out the window of one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hover cars as it came down over a small suburban part of the city. It wasn't the rows of skyscrapers that were common in New York, but a checkerboard of small stick built homes that had more in common with the home that Aunt May had raised Peter in then with the apartments that Peter and Mary Jane had lived in.

"You're certain this is the lair of a secret society?" Spider-Man asked he saw nothing that would indicate a 'villain's lair'.

"That's what the map says," the cape-killer driving the hover-car replied, "we'll be watching and waiting for the two of you to return with prisoners. Now get going."

Spider-Man glanced at Arachne and sighed heavily and lead the way through an area that the other present cape-killers allowed them to travel through to descend toward the house that was suspected of being used as a Scrier base. The descent was short and both heroes bounced off the ground and through two front windows of the house.

They found that the interior of the house did not match the exterior. There was a lot of stainless steal and four armed Scriers. Spider-Man quickly activated a small radio that his cape-killer supervisors had made him wear under his mask.

"Yeah, this 'spider-one' to the cape-troopers," Spider-Man spoke, "Definitely a Scrier base. We got four of them. Nothing Arachne and I can't handle, though."

All of the Scriers then attacked in unison making Spider-Man and Arachne leap up to avoid being sliced with a sword or run through by a spear. Both landed on the ceiling and easily clung to it. Before the Scriers could react and redirect their weapons, the arachnid themed heroes wrapped all four of them in webbing. Both then easily dropped down and disarmed them. The Scriers were unconscious shortly after.

"Well, that takes care of this group," Arachne sighed as they looked down at the unconscious Scriers, "I'll drag them out to the hover-car. S.H.I.E.L.D. can figure out what to do with them while you look for anything of any importance."

Spider-Man nodded and began moving about the house, looking for anything that would constitute evidence.

Meanwhile, crouching in a sewer drain was a rather dirty looking man in a black costume that had rather insect-like trappings.

"What do you see, Humbug?" came Silver Sable's voice over a radio.

"There are no insects in the house," Humbug answered, "strangely. I can only barely hear what Arachne is saying to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents parked on the front lawn."

"Surely there are insects in the grass," Silver Sable answered, sounding rather grossed out.

"Sorry, ma'am," there are a few ants nearby," Humbug answered.

"What do they hear?" Silver Sable demanded.

Humbug sat there quietly for a few moments before saying, "Something about 'only four of them there' and 'Spider-Man searching evidence'."

"It can't be," came Silver Sable's voice in a distracted slash disappointed manner.

"Ma'am?" Humbug asked as the S.H.I.E.L.D. hover-car took off with Spider-Man and Arachne on it.

"Nothing," Silver Sable answered, "what's happening?"

"They're leaving," Humbug reported, "Fly inside the car heard something about Denver before they went beyond my range to communicate with it."

"Return to the hovercraft," Silver Sable ordered, "We'll need to keep up with the S.H.I.E.L.D. car."

**Sable's Hovercraft, Two Blocks Away**

"You look rough," Paladin commented as the heavily armed mercenary moved into the front of the hovercraft to talk with the Silver Sable.

"Relax," Silver Sable answered, "we will be paid. You have no need to worry."

"I have no worries about being paid," Paladin answered, "You've always paid my tab, which I can't complain about. It's just that you've looked rather nervous for the past few hours. Almost as if you didn't want to take this job."

"You want to take on Spider-Man?" Silver Sable questioned, "remember that while he has been a foolish unprofessional, he is still a formidable opponent in any situation."

"Every opponent is beatable," Paladin answered confidently, "and besides, Humbug just proved that he's helping S.H.I.E.L.D. help the Red Skull. I thought you were willing to take on the Nazis for free."

"I do," Silver Sable answered with a frustrated sigh, "I just didn't think that Spider-Man would be one to side with them."

**Seattle, Early Evening**

The day had been a long one as Spider-Man and Arachne made their way through an area that they least expected to find in Seattle. A bunker that reminded Spider-Man of some of the mazes of tunnels that Norman had secretly constructed to hid his goblin equipment. The stop in Denver had been a short one as all of the Scriers were caught trying to flee, and while the two webbed heroes pursued, it was the cape-killers who took the Scriers down with a barrage of tranquilizer darts. That left them moving through a hidden tunnel underneath Seattle.

"Not what you'd expect from the Pacific coast," Arachne commented as they walked along.

"Yeah," Spider-Man nodded and then joked, "it's dry."

"You know what I mean," Arachne answered, "seeing tunnels like this."

"Maybe they've been into some program on the underworld or something," Spider-Man shrugged, "It makes for a more serious headquarters. We'll likely find something of greater importance here the drugs and stolen items found at the other Scrier bases."

There was a quiet pause for a moment.

"Although that leads me to wonder what they could want out here that would require such an instillation," Spider-Man commented s they continued on.

They had taken one a few steps more when both heroes felt their respective spider-senses go off at full force. Spider-Man immediately dodged right while Arachne dodged up. Five Scriers then seemed to jump, literally out of the walls at the spot where Spider-Man and Arachne had been standing. Three were wielding swords, one had a crossbow, while the final Scrier had no weapons, but his hands seemed to glow a very dark shade of purple.

"New York is not the only place where foes of the Brotherhood of Scriers live," the fifth Scrier spoke in a low voice, "And New York is not the only place the Brotherhood of Scriers lives."

"I know that," Spider-Man replied, webbing up the first two Scriers from the ceiling while Arachne webbed up the other two and actually disarmed the fourth of his crossbow, "What I want to know, is WHAT are you after out here?"

The fifth Scrier raised his arms, and fired out two purple beams of energy at Spider-Man and Arachne. They dodged the attack, but the beams did do heavy damage to the roof of the tunnel they were in. As the dust from the falling dirt cleared, the Scrier lowered his hands and the energy beams disappeared, although the Scrier's hands were still glowing.

"Only what is necessary to secure our master's plans for the future by any means necessary," the fifth Scrier spoke, "and I will not tolerate the interference of S.H.I.E.L.D. thugs like you."

"Actually, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s thugs are topside," Arachne quipped, "You're stuck with the heroes in this case."

Arachne then fired a pair of weblines that wrapped around the Scrier's hands. The webbed hands still glowed purple, but both Spider-Man and Arachne noticed that the energy beams weren't penetrating the web cocoon that Arachne had wrapped around them.

"Well, whatdaya know?" Arachne smirked after that.

"No!" the Scrier protested, "this can't…"

The Scrier couldn't protest further as Spider-Man used his distraction to club him from behind. The Scrier then fell to the ground unconscious.

"How do you suppose he did all that?" Arachne questioned gesturing at the Scrier's hands.

"Likely magic," Spider-Man shrugged, "I don't think the Scriers use much in the way of advanced technology and I doubt they recruit mutants… although since M-Day, there aren't that many of them any more to recruit."

Arachne slowly nodded while Spider-Man moved to activate the communications device he had on them. He got no response on the other end, which puzzled him slightly. While he thought the S.H.I.E.L.D. cape-killers were overall on the wrong side of the present superhuman argument, they were diligent. It wouldn't be like them to duck off for donuts.

"Where are those guys?" Spider-Man then asked aloud before he felt his spider-sense go off like crazy.

"Your Fascist aids are indisposed at the moment," came a new voice inside the tunnel.

They both then turned to see several new arrivals in the tunnel with him. Closest to the front was a powerful looking man in black and purple. Spider-Man vaguely remembered him going by the name Paladin, but he couldn't pinpoint ever working with him before. The next was a small man in a black leather costume, whom Spider-Man didn't recognize. The third was a man that reminded Spider-Man, outwardly of Montana from the Enforcers, but he was too big physically to be him. The last man, bringing up the rear of the group was a man in a blue costume with a white shield on his chest. Spider-Man had no clue who this man was, but he easily recognized their leader, a woman he had worked with off and on from time to time, Silver Sable.

"I am very disappointed in you, Spider-Man," Silver Sable said in a firm voice.

"What? Why?" Spider-Man asked, too confused to make a joke.

"Who are these people?" Arachne asked as she didn't recognize anyone standing in front of her.

"Silver Sable and her Wild Pack," Spider-Man answered, "a mercenary, but one I've thought at least willing to fight on the side of good."

"I still do," Silver Sable answered, "It is you who has betrayed all that is good by siding with the S.H.I.E.L.D. and their hero, the Red Skull. Wild Pack, Attack!"

"Excuse me," Paladin said confidently as he rushed forward toward Spider-Man, "big dog coming through."

He launched a series of punches at Spider-Man who easily retreated down the passageway to gain some room, avoiding each punch thrown.

"So, someone was willing to pay you to come after me?" Spider-Man asked as he grabbed one outstretched foot from Paladin and threw him into the wall, "and one that's got Silver thinking I'm bad now?"

"Don't know the name of the employer," Paladin answered, pulling out his stun blaster, "but he promised to pay, so here I am."

He then fired the blaster on its widest possible setting. It did damage to the roof and brought the steal crashing down. Spider-Man avoided being directly hit by the blast, but he was unable to catch the falling steal.

"I got 'em, I got 'em!" Humbug yelled as he rushed forward while Spider-Man wrestled with the metal.

Spider-Man had just thrown the broken pieces of the roof off of him when he saw the guy in black leather rushing forward with what looked like four horse flies following him. He quickly dispatched the flies with a web-ball, caught Humbug with a webline and then, like a slinger throwing a stone, threw Humbug into Paladin, sending both of them crashing into the wall.

"And that takes care of that," Spider-Man chuckled as Humbug was knocked out and Paladin was struggling to get the unconscious bug lover off of him. Spider-Man's triumph was short lived as it was at that time that Silver Sable directly entered the picture, landing a kick on Spider-Man's chest that sent him flying into the other wall.

Arachne, meanwhile, found herself facing the Montana look-alike and the man in blue. The massive 'cowboy themed' man swung his massive fists like twin wrecking cranes, hoping to make some contact. Arachne easily dodged the two blows and landed between the two of them.

"Shouldn't you be with the Enforcers?" Arachne questioned, trying to figure out who he was.

The man then drew an old west style six shooter and fired it at Arachne at point blank range. Thanks to her spider-sense, Arachne easily avoided the shot, but her dodging leap carried her directly into a force field that she didn't originally know was there.

"You think I'm Montana?" the large man asked back, "that dumb city-slicker who decided to mimic a western drawl? I ain't that little weakling. Name's Tex and I am the real deal, lady, and in Texas, we don' take kindly to Nazis. Blue Shield feels the same way."

"Great," Arachne thought to herself, "these guys must somehow think that she and Spider-Man were working for the Red Skull in some way. She guessed that the only one that could have hired them, and fabricated the story were the Scriers.

Arachne sensed something coming from behind her and quickly back flipped up to see the impact of another force field-ball thrown at her position by Blue Shield. She caught herself with a pair of weblines and swung both legs down to kick Blue Shield into Tex, who was rushing to catch up. The blow didn't take either down, but it sent them tumbling back a few steps.

"I think you people are mistaken," Arachne spoke, "Spider-Man and I would never side with anyone like the Red Skull."

"That's not what we heard," Blue Shield shot back, "we heard you and your partner sided with S.H.I.E.L.D. with the Red Skull against Captain America."

Arachne fired a pair of web balls that caught Blue Shield's eyes and leaped up, bounced off the ceiling to land a kick on Tex's chest, knocking him into the wall again.

"We may have Registered, but we ain't workin' for or with the Red Skull," Arachne shot back, "believe me. Both Iron Man and Cap are working on some way to beat him. And Spidey and I will help both of them when the time comes."

"Forgive me, ma'am if I don't believe you," Tex growled and threw a punch at Arachne.

Arachne easily ducked under the intended blow, and Tex ended up punching Blue Shield instead. The blue clad 'hero' had a small personal force field, but Tex's fist and blow was so powerful that he ended up knocking Blue Shield into he air and sending him flying back toward the entrance to the tunnel.

"Ouch," Arachne commented, "sucks when you miss, don't it?"

Tex only growled and fired at Arachne with his six shooters. Arachne easily avoided the shots and after three shots, she caught both hand guns with a pair of weblines and ripped them out of Tex's hands. She then crushed the guns in her hands.

"Spidey has a saying that is rather appropriate in this case," Arachne smirked, "Never bring guns to a spider-fight."

"Those were Colt originals!" Tex growled angrily and rushed forward, "Collectors items!"

"Then you shouldn't actually use them as a weapon," Arachne spoke as she leaped over the charging Tex, "you should have left them in a display case in your ranch. But you attacked me with them, and I do not like guns. Especially at the present time."

Arachne then turned, pivoted on one foot and tripped Tex with the other. He fell flat on his face. Before he could respond, Arachne webbed him up in a thick wrapping of webbing. Once Tex was adequately webbed up, Arachne turned to see how Spider-Man fared in his fight.

Spider-Man found himself in a tougher fight then Arachne did. Unlike his partner, Spider-Man had had dealings with Silver Sable and the Wild Pack before. He felt they were too merciless for their use of mercenary tactics, but at least felt that Silver Sable was a good person somewhere. But apparently someone had played her mercenary lifestyle against her morals, and money won out. He had to guess that it was the Scriers that hired her, but he wasn't sure how they got her to believe that he and Arachne had sided with the Red Skull.

"Come on, Sable," Spider-Man spoke, "You know me. I'm too naïve to follow someone like the Red Skull."

"I thought I knew you," Silver Sable replied, "Unprofessional, but good at his work. Then I learn you've signed on with S.H.I.E.L.D. which has promised to aide the Red Skull. Which has driven Captain America underground."

"It's complicated," Spider-Man answered weakly as he dodged a barrage of chais that Silver Sable threw at him.

"Maybe you can explain it after I've beaten the stuffing out of you," Paladin said confidently as he blasted at him with his blaster.

Spider-Man avoided the blast and looked back to see that the blaster had blown a hole in the wall and compressed the dirt behind it.

"If you're wanting to take me alive, Paladin," Spider-Man said firmly, knowing that he was showing his distaste for the man clearly, "you're doing a lousy job."

Spider-Man then leaped forward, bouncing off of one wall and landed a swinging kick on Paladin's head, which finally knocked the mercenary out and leaving Spider-Man with Silver Sable who had thrown more chais at him, which caught him in mid air, and pinned him to the wall. He was surprised by how strong they were. Silver Sable then slowly approached him.

She was caught by a webline from behind before she got too close and then turned to see Arachne standing behind her, holding the webline.

"Can't we talk this out?" Arachne asked, "I think some one has held off from giving you all the information before sending you after us."

Silver Sable looked at the red and blue clad woman and lowered her arms, placing her hand on her hips.

"I'm listening," Silver Sable spoke, the entire mission had gotten very bizarre, and with her Wild Pack either unconscious or webbed up, she would stand much chance of defeating Spider-Man and his partner, "Why did you side with the Red Skull?"

"We didn't," Spider-Man spoke, "we registered with S.H.I.E.L.D. but we didn't agree to work with the Red Skull."

"Why did you register?" Sable asked, "You both know that S.H.I.E.L.D. has decided to ally itself with that Nazi. Even if you aren't working for him, you're indirectly working with him."

"Because things are rather complicated at present," Spider-Man sighed, "The Registration Act was proposed in the hopes of using America's superheroes as weapons against all perceived enemies. That includes the Red Skull. Something I don't think the person who hired you told you about."

"What are you saying?" Sable questioned.

"The people that hired you to kill us are lying creeps," Arachne spoke bluntly, "They wanted you to fight us and would stop at nothing to get you to do so."

"How do you know that?" Sable questioned suspiciously.

"Because we have a good hunch who the people who hired you are," Spider-Man answered, "It wasn't by chance an organization called the Brotherhood of Scriers?"

Silver Sable's eyes widened as he had guessed exactly had hired her, which brought back the suspicions she had about them when their representative hired her. She only listened to the Scriers because they promised to pay well.

"Who are they?" Silver Sable questioned.

"The Scriers are a secret society that has dabbled in just about everything, legal or illegal, for years," Spider-Man explained, "they've recently opened a blood feud with Norman Osborn, which has involved Arachne and I. They've since added us to the list of people they want killed. S.H.I.E.L.D. currently has us hunting down the various Scrier bases to try and defeat their organization. Largely because I don't think the current director doesn't want us in the current Registration mess."

"They lied to me?" Sable growled, now noticing the unconscious Scriers in the hallway, angrily that she had let herself get led into this situation.

"Likely to get you to fight me," Spider-Man sighed, "If they told you the truth, you may not have sided with them."

"They played me for a fool," Sable growled.

Spider-Man reached for his belt and pulled out the map that S.H.I.E.L.D. had 'given' him to help find the Scrier bases.

"But you can get payback," Spider-Man commented, "if you wish to get even for that."

"What about S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Silver Sable asked, sounding slightly nervous, "They've still condoned the Red Skull's rule and likely know my dislike of Nazism, and they will know that my Wild Pack attacked them to get to you."

Spider-Man sighed, "You might have to return to Symkaria to avoid legal prosecution until Cap figures out how to beat the Red Skull and all the Registration mess is settled, but if you turn the Scriers over to S.H.I.E.L.D. you might gain a good bargaining position."

"And if he can't?" Sable asked.

"Then, I don't know," Spider-Man sighed, "Arachne and I registered because of Arachne's current pregnancy, and thus the need for the ability to see a doctor without risk of being arrested."

Silver Sable glanced at both heroes for a moment and then spoke, "So the rumors in the New York papers are true, Spider-Man has found a girlfriend."

"I've been his WIFE for years," Arachne spoke firmly, "I only just became Arachne recently."

Silver Sable only sighed in response. And then took on a much tougher tone.

"I will deal with the Scriers in Symkaria," Silver Sable spoke, "You can tell S.H.I.E.L.D. that they will pay for their deception."

Spider-Man nodded, "Of course. Good luck."

"Oh and Spider-Man," Silver Sable spoke up, "if you can, make sure that the Red Skull is defeated quickly and that your country breaks all ties with him. Or you might not be able to talk your way out of fighting me."

"Right," Spider-Man sighed and lead Arachne out, dragging the unconscious Scriers with them.

**Symkaria, One Week Later**

Maria Hill was very much agitated by the call to come to the small Balkan nation. It was small and had no military force aiding the US anywhere, which put it well off of the S.H.I.E.L.D. director's radar screen. On top of that, the nations main source of income was from a private mercenary force run by one Silver Sable. Now, Hill did approve of normal people controlling super humans, to insure the natural order remained, but since Symkaria didn't give her control over Silver Sable's organization, she didn't trust the silver haired mercenary.

She entered a small office area to find Silver Sable seated at a desk with three unconscious Scriers laying in front of it.

"Good afternoon," Silver Sable spoke calmly, although in a tone that did not endear herself to the S.H.I.E.L.D. director.

"I take it you're offering some bargain to get you out of five years in a maximum security federal prison for assaulting a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?" Hill asked, "because I'm willing to cut it down to two and a half years."

"Symkaria would not allow that," Silver Sable answered, "and remember, you have to follow the UN's guidelines, not America's present leaders. I've called you here because Spider-Man told me you have him dealing with these people."

Hill only looked at the unconscious Scriers.

"My attack on your agents was because of their manipulations," Silver Sable continued, "they lead me to believe that you and Spider-Man had sided with the Red Skull."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is not allied with the Red Skull," Hill answered.

"Yes," Silver Sable sighed, "Spider-Man explained that. So, I have rounded up the Scriers operating in my country. You can have them."

"And what of your attack on my people?" Hill questioned, "regardless of how it happened, you still committed a crime."

"Symkaria will not allow that," Silver Sable repeated, "We are willing to assist S.H.I.E.L.D. in dealing with the Scriers, but my government will not act as your lapdog. If you don't want our cooperation, please leave and return to your own country."

Hill only sighed. The visit was a waste of time, in her opinion, but she figured that if Iron Man continued to not attack Captain America, Silver Sable's Wild Pack might come in handy.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Hill spoke, "You're willing to help hunt down the Scriers?"

Silver Sable nodded, "Free of charge, even."

"Very good," Hill replied, "I'll have some agents pick up these men and leave you with mission instructions."

Silver Sable only nodded as the S.H.I.E.L.D. director left.

**To Be Continued…**


	8. Back in Black

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee, and owned by the Walt Disney Corporation (Disney bought Marvel). No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 8: Back in Black**

**Dr. Klet's Office, Stark/Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane sat quietly in the office where she had her check ups with Doctor Klet. She glanced nervously at Peter while they waited for Dr. Klet to arrive. At present, she hopped that the doctor would be able to provide her with some much needed help.

The standard symptoms that went along with pregnancy had gotten worse as she continued to progress through her first trimester, but that was fairly standard. It was also something she remembered from when she had been pregnant before. The problem had more to deal with Maria Hill and her continued insistence that Mary Jane continue to work as Arachne in the field. So far her spider-sense was enough to keep from taking any blow to her abdomen, but it also required her to keep the fight at a distance, making Peter do most of the work, and it didn't reduce any fear that one of the Scriers would land a blow to her stomach and she would have a miscarriage again. She didn't know what she would do if that happened again.

After a few moments, Doctor Klet entered the room with a small brief case with her, which both Peter and Mary Jane assumed had some sort of equipment that would be needed for treating Mary Jane's pregnancy.

"Well, hello, Peter isn't it?" Doctor Klet spoke as she moved to shake Peter's hand, "It is good to meet you. It's also good to see a father involved in these things."

"Well, I would have been at the last one if it weren't for 'other' matters," Peter told the doctor.

"Yes, Mary Jane has told me about what you've been putting up with in regards to this thing with the Registration Act," Doctor Klet sighed, "makes me glad I'm a doctor. I don't think I have the strength to put up with all of this… but that isn't why we're here at the moment is it?"

"Actually…" Mary Jane spoke up nervously, "that is partially why we're here. Not just for the scheduled appointment."

Doctor Klet looked at both of them with a semi-nervous look on her face.

"Hill has been sending me and Peter on missions after a group called the Brotherhood of Scriers," Mary Jane explained, "so far we've been able to avoid a serious problem, but we had hopped you might be able to get some sort of medical order that could keep me out of the fighting, at least until AFTER I've given birth."

Doctor Klet was shocked by all of this. She had never heard of any superhero actually 'superheroing' in Mary Jane's current state. To her knowledge, Susan Richards took nine months off while she was pregnant with her oldest child, Franklin, and again when she was pregnant with Valerie. Mary Jane was even beginning to show her pregnancy a little, and Dr. Klet quickly determined that Hill had to let Mary Jane take some sort of leave before she took a blow that would end the pregnancy.

"I will do more then that, I will till Director Hill that you are in no condition to be flying around the world and engaging dangerous enemies," Dr. Klet spoke, "Getting some exercise is always good, but hand to hand combat is not good for a pregnant woman."

"That was our conclusion," Mary Jane spoke with Peter nodding beside her.

"Very good," Dr. Klet answered, and then took a deep cleansing breath, "but for now, it would be best to finish the appointment. How have things been pregnancy wise?"

"I'm not liking the mourning sickness and so forth, if that is what you're asking," Mary Jane sighed, "but even that isn't that bad."

Dr. Klet gave a weak chuckle at that.

"I don't think I have a cure for that," Dr. Klet replied, "mourning sickness is one of the things you'll have to deal with. And it should go away in time."

"It did during my first pregnancy," Mary Jane nodded, "I should only have to wait a little longer."

Dr. Klet nodded, "have you been experiencing any pain in the womb? Any at all, and considering what S.H.I.E.L.D. is putting you through, this could be very important."

Mary Jane shook her head, "no nothing like that. Any 'pain' I've felt is nothing that I haven't felt before, which I was told is normal."

Dr. Klet gave a relieved sigh.

"That is especially good to hear," Dr. Klet sighed, "especially good to hear."

Peter and Mary Jane then looked on, as Dr. Klet approached.

"I'm going to jump to doing the ultrasound now," Dr. Klet explained slowly, "I know you say you're not in any pain, but it would relieve me more to be able to look in and make certain that everything is where it is supposed to be."

Dr. Klet then turned to a series of cabinets next to the examining table that MJ was sitting on and pulled out a small jar containing some gel-like material and a series of wires and electrical devices. All of them looked more advanced then what Peter remembered seeing in the couple of times when he had gone with MJ to her appointments during her first pregnancy, but he couldn't tell if that was because of a jump in technology, or because Stark Enterprises had supplied and developed the technology. He wasn't about to ask though, while MJ lifted her shirt enough to allow Dr. Klet place the gel on her stomach.

"Now this may feel a little bit cold," Dr. Klet warned.

"Can't be worse then Peter's feet in the middle of the night," Mary Jane gave a weak joke.

"My feet are not cold," Peter protested.

Dr. Klet ignored the joking and went about her work. Once the gel had been placed on Mary Jane's womb and she was ready to begin the ultrasound procedure, she began to explain what would happen.

"Now, I'm sure you all know the basic principle of an ultrasound," Dr. Klet explained, "but I would like to add to that by saying the technology provided for this facility by Stark Enterprises is well beyond the ultrasound devices your previous doctor used, and probably still uses."

"It has better magnification?" Peter asked.

"Better magnification, better clarity, better everything," Dr. Klet answered with a nod, "In fact, with this ultrasound equipment, you could have probably watched the cells divide shortly after conception. THAT is how good it is."

"Wow," Mary Jane spoke, sounding in awe.

Mary Jane and Peter looked on as Dr. Klet began running the a small scanning device along Mary Jane's abdomen. A grey and white image of MJ's insides appeared on a screen mounted in the wall.

"Okay," Dr. Klet chuckled, "there's the small intestine, so we'll move down from there… I will also tell you that at this time we should be able to pick up the fluttering of the baby's heartbeat."

Peter and MJ continued to watch the screen as Dr. Klet moved it down until an image appeared on the screen that looked like something inside MJ rather then some portion of her digestive tract.

"Now to adjust the focus so we can see it better," Dr. Klet spoke quietly as she turned a knob below the screen and on the scanning device.

What they all saw on the screen then surprised them beyond all belief. The device showed there was not one, but TWO small forms growing there.

"Twins," Mary Jane gasped, "it's twins."

"Congratulations," Dr. Klet offered, and kept the scanner on that location and placed a stethoscope next to the scanning device, "and both appear to be healthy. Heart beat might even be a bit stronger then what is expected."

Dr. Klet then held out the ear pieces of the stethoscope to Mary Jane, "do you want to listen to the heart beats?"

Temporarily overcome with surprise and joy, Mary Jane reached for the ear pieces. The problems with the Registration Act, Cap going underground, and the Scriers were still out there, but for the time being, she wanted some happiness. Especially since what would be coming later would not pleasant.

**S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters/Avengers Tower**

"She's held back?" Director Hill asked as a couple of agents gave their reports regarding the actions of two spider-themed heroes.

"Kept the fights at long range, using Spider-Man to fight the close in battles," the agent answered, "I don't think its cowardice, I think she's protecting something."

"She is pregnant," Director Hill dismissed the comment, "she probably doesn't want to take a blow to the stomach."

The reports that she had received on Spider-Man and Arachne's pursuit of the Scriers had been rather promising so far. The Scriers were gone from American soil and they had defeated their branches in Canada and Mexico and much of Central America, and Silver Sable's organization had rounded up Europe's Scriers. The 'Scrier front' seemed to be the only one going well. Captain America was still underground and gathering those who opposed the Registration Act, and Stark refused to crush the Steven Roger's insurrection. Spider-Man and Arachne's battling the Scriers brought the S.H.I.E.L.D. director good news, but the Scriers were not her prime concern and the conflict over the Registration Act left her frustrated.

She was about to turn to something else when the door to her office suddenly opened and a nervous agent was desperately trying to hold back a woman, who appeared to be a physician, and was followed by Peter and Mary Jane Watson-Parker, Spider-Man and Arachne.

"You can relax Agent 274," Director Hill spoke the agent trying to restrain the doctor, "these three are just in time to hear about their progress reports."

The Agent let the doctor go while Peter and Mary Jane moved to stand side by side near the doctor.

"I must say that I'm rather impressed by your work in going after the Scriers," Director Hill spoke, placing the documents she'd been given earlier down, "You've taken down all of their offices in North America and have greatly hurt their network."

"It's nothing I guess," Peter shrugged, "but we really aren't here to see what your agents think of us."

Director Hill then gave all three of them a rather icy stare, which showed that she sensed that the three of them had come to argue with policy.

"Director Hill, I am Doctor Cynthia Klet," Dr. Klet spoke, "I must give you a physician's order to let Mrs. Parker either take some sort of 'desk job' or be involved in something that is far less dangerous to her present condition."

"A 'physician's order'?" Director Hill raised an eyebrow skeptically, "and which S.H.I.E.L.D. office are you employed by?"

"I'm employed by Tony Stark to provide medical service for Stark Enterprises…" Dr. Klet began.

"Exactly," Director Hill cut her off, "You know nothing about superhuman anatomy or their powers, and are not employed by S.H.I.E.L.D. Anything you say to me is a mere suggestion. Don't you DARE presume to order me."

"I'm not trying to order you around," Dr. Klet protested, "I've been seeing Mrs. Parker for her pregnancy. I'm trying to do what is best for my patient. Sending her on field missions is dangerous. Any blow to the abdomen could cause serious consequences, especially right now while she is only in the first trimester. Most miscarriages happen during this time period."

Director Hill did not answer right away. Dr. Klet then turned and pointed Mary Jane's womb, which Hill could see was beginning to show the present pregnancy.

"Look at her!" Dr. Klet insisted, "She is beginning to show the pregnancy! It would be on your head if the babies die because you don't do the smart thing and let her take a safer job. It doesn't even have to be behind a desk. Surely there are other posts that would not have her chasing after heavily armed ninjas. And if you really think Mr. Parker needs a partner as Spider-Man, sure there is someone else available to you. Someone who isn't pregnant."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. has many options available to it," Director Hill replied.

"Then please use them," Dr. Klet urged, "if you won't listen to me because I'm not directly employed by S.H.I.E.L.D. then please listen to me as a doctor and as a human being pleading for the safety of another."

"I will have to think this over," Director Hill spoke, "along with pondering some things that did come with the rest of the reports. You are all dismissed."

Director Hill then sighed as the three of them slowly left. Honestly, she agreed with the doctor that Mary Jane was now far enough along in her pregnancy that keeping her fighting the Scriers was no longer necessary. The problem was the doctor's delivery as it all revolved back to the present situation regarding the Registration Act. She didn't like others giving her orders. She hated it as an agent under Nick Fury, and she wasn't about tolerate it now that she was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director. She was in charge of superhuman affairs and she wasn't going to allow anyone else any degree of authority. The nation's security depended on it.

Outside Hill's office, Dr. Klet walked slowly with Peter and Mary Jane walking behind her.

"I can't believe that woman," Dr. Klet growled, "She's totally willing to needlessly risk people's lives to do what the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. can do on its own."

"It's a control issue, really," Peter told her, "she's been seriously agitated by Cap's rebellion against the Registration Act and the fact that Tony isn't trying to destroy New York fighting him. Hill wants to be the leader, and Tony's disagreements with on tactics rubs her the wrong way, as so far, the longer Cap is free, the more tense everything becomes."

"It isn't smart to do that," Dr. Klet sighed, "If MJ gets…"

"We know," Peter sighed, "but no one, not even Tony has been able to influence that woman's decision making. She wants to be the leader and wants us to know it. And since the Registration Act gives her the legal right to claim that role, she will fight tooth and nail to make sure she can keep it."

"If that is the case," Dr. Klet gave a rather depressed sounding sigh, "then it might be a good idea for you both to leave the country. If she's looking to control superheroes, then what would be better then to take your children as soon as their born. If S.H.I.E.L.D. raises them, and you don't, they will grow up to think that S.H.I.E.L.D. will always be right, no matter what they do."

Both Peter and Mary Jane gulped nervously.

**Unknown Location, New York State**

Klaus Voorhees, known to the world as King Cobra sat quietly in one of the Serpent Society's many hidden bases throughout the world. He had been watching the present struggles between one of his old foes, Captain America and another of his foes, S.H.I.E.L.D. over the Registration Act. The act, and the battle over it distracted the country's superheroes to the actions of the criminal element that had its own goals. Business, however, had been slow of late for the Serpent Society. Few outsiders had hired them and their own private ventures had met with only mixed success. They were not providing the distraction to America's superheroes that they wanted.

He was looking over some paperwork for a planned heist of a S.H.I.E.L.D. hoverjet that might give them the opportunity to track the events of the battle over the Registration Act and the presence of the Red Skull on his own island. He was the one who conceived the plan, but he had to write it down on paper to maintain the business-like atmosphere that the Serpent Society followed. He had just turned one of the pages when there was a sudden flash of light in front of him and spectral image appeared in front of him. The sudden appearance made him jump out of his chair and look forward at the image of a man with white skin in black robes.

"Who are you?!" he demanded as he slipped on his King Cobra hood, ready to fight if some hero had caught him.

"Relax, Cobra," the Scrier answered, "I come not to fight you, but to hire you."

"Hire me?" King Cobra answered, deciding to try and protect the Serpent Society's secrecy until he knew more about this strange man, whom he had never seen before.

"Yes, the Brotherhood of Scriers knows all about you, Klaus Voorhees, alias King Cobra," the Scrier answered, "you lead the Serpent Society. An organization of superhuman criminals that have powers or costumes mirrored after different snake species, and known for a rather business-like attitude running its own private benefits package. Suitable mercenaries for a very important mission."

King Cobra was shocked by this. Outside of S.H.I.E.L.D. the heroes that had battled with the Serpent Society in the past, and other criminals that the Serpent Society had worked with knew this much about the society. This made him somewhat fearful of this Scrier.

"We know a great many things and through our own manipulations we are able to learn things that we are not told through other means," the Scrier spoke in a somewhat calming voice, "we seek to hire the services of the Serpent Society to deal with a rather persistent problem to our organization."

"The Serpent Society doesn't engage in revenge," King Cobra answered, "it is bad for business to obsess over one failure."

"And I suppose this explains your repeated failures to kill Captain America?" the Scrier answered back.

King Cobra didn't know how to answer that.

"Besides, your organization will be well paid for taking job," the Scrier added, "enough to insure that your overhead is not even a concern."

"I'm listening," King Cobra then spoke.

"The Brotherhood of Scriers has recently had to deal with the interference of S.H.I.E.L.D. through the heroes Spider-Man and Arachne," the Scrier explained, "we wish to insure hat these two heroes are stopped. Although the two of them may be hard to track as S.H.I.E.L.D. has been sending them around the world."

"Tracking them should be no problem," King Cobra answered, "we have members who are more then capable of tracking and traversing great distances. Now, what is the exact price you will pay the Serpent Society? Spider-Man is a top level hero in this country, and while Arachne is new, it appears that the webhead has been training her. And any equipment needed would surely be expensive."

"The Brotherhood is prepared to pay seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, US, for the capture or killing of Spider-Man and Arachne," the Scrier answered calmly.

King Cobra nodded and held out a hand, expecting to receive the payment.

"You will forgive us, if we will not pay in advance," the Scrier said firmly, "like any good transaction, the Brotherhood will not pay until the goods have been delivered."

"You want proof of their death?" King Cobra growled.

"Yes," the Scrier answered, "Preferably their heads. The exact plan of the operation is to be left to you."

With that, the Scrier's image faded away.

**Avengers Tower**

"Twins?" Aunt May gasped in surprise.

Mary Jane nodded happily, "that's what the ultrasound showed."

"Isn't it a little early for that?" Aunt May asked.

"I think the technology Stark has provided is light-years ahead of what most hospitals have," Peter commented as he entered the room with two cups of milk.

Peter handed one of the cups to MJ while sipping from the other cup.

"Well, aside from that Hill woman being a total witch, I would say that this appears to very good news," Aunt May said with a proud smile.

"It's a surprise, certainly, but I don't think it's a bad surprise," Mary Jane nodded, placing one hand on her abdomen, "we were trying for this after all, the pregnancy I mean."

"Do you know the genders yet?" Aunt May asked, excited, "Have you told anyone else?"

"I didn't see anything that would be a sign of gender," Peter commented, "the closest thing to anything like that were little buds where the legs and arms will be."

"And we've only just gotten to telling you," Mary Jane added, "I don't know what Aunt Anna will do when I tell her that it's twins. She's already insisted on coming out for when the baby's due."

"Have you heard anything from Gayle?" Peter asked thoughtfully.

Mary Jane looked down with a heavy sigh, "No. I left a message on her answering machine, but I didn't get an answer."

Peter looked at her rather down look. Mary Jane and Gayle Watson had never been super close, at least as far as he knew. Gayle rarely, if ever, made contact with them, and his life was so hectic, he couldn't tell whether or not MJ had called her sister. He didn't fully understand why that was. Mary Jane had told him of her past mistakes, and it seemed like she wanted to try and fix those mistakes before they got married, but Gayle and her family always seemed to be distant or not there.

"I'm sorry, MJ," Peter sighed, "If I could get those S.H.I.E.L.D. guys to drop me off at her house, I would."

Mary Jane smiled at that. Most times it was usually her trying to cheer him up, so it made her feel especially good to hear him give her encouragement on these things.

"Thanks Peter," Mary Jane gave a weak smile, "I know you'd do all you can to help."

Peter nodded, "I always will."

"Good," Mary Jane said with a smile, "because I could go for some pickles."

Peter turned his head in shock and was about to protest when Mary Jane raised an arm and pointed toward the kitchen area that was available to all the Avengers.

"Pickles!" Mary Jane commanded.

Peter only gave a sigh and got up. This was another mystery that he didn't think he wanted to even try solving.

**The Next Morning**

Peter and Mary Jane slowly made their way into a situation room that Director Hill had requisitioned from the Avengers to use as a S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, each eating a donut that they had picked up along the way. They found Director Hill waiting for them with what looked like a moveable wardrobe behind her.

"Morning," Peter quipped, "trying on different outfits before work?"

"Very amusing, Spider-Man," Director Hill answered coldly, "May I ask why neither of you are in uniform?"

"They're being washed," Mary Jane answered, "they should be done before you send us out."

If Director Hill caught the uneasiness in MJ's voice, she didn't show it.

"It might be a good thing anyway," Director Hill then sighed, "as it will make dealing with the progress reports made on your confrontations with the Scriers easier to take."

Peter and Mary Jane traded glances.

"We will start with your present condition, Mrs. Parker," Director Hill then continued, "since your pregnancy is now becoming physically apparent, you will remain here at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and will work through various simulators on how to deal with various situations. It is all computer generated, so you won't need to run to a hysterical doctor to try and weasel out of your responsibilities to your country. A country which is being threatened by numerous enemies."

Mary Jane clenched her teeth, holding back her tongue as she didn't feel that Dr. Klet was hysterical in any way. Director Hill meanwhile continued with her report.

"Overall, I must say that the two of you have done quite well," Director Hill spoke, "Far better then I thought you were even capable of. You've gone out and captured the Scriers and returned. If only some of your compatriots were as willing to follow orders."

Peter and Mary Jane traded glances, as this had to be some shot at Tony who hadn't 'gone after' Cap and his group.

"I'm sure things will get better if you're worried about Cap," Peter commented, "a lot of people look up to him. It'd be hard to see him as a villain."

"He's breaking the law," Hill growled.

"So do half a dozen New Yorkers who jaywalk every half an hour," Peter retorted, "You'll have to convince other Pro-Registration heroes that Cap has 'gone to the Dark Side' before they'd be willing to fight a man they consider a friend… or find someone who's never considered him a friend."

Hill looked up but didn't say anything. When she continued, she returned to her original report.

"The only problem is that people have spotted you from time to time," Director Hill spoke, "Your mission is to be covert, or else the Scriers will know you're after them."

"It's kinda hard not to be noticed," Mary Jane pointed, "especially outside New York. People in most parts of the country do not see red and blue costumes."

"And that is why I had these made," Director Hill answered and pressed a button on the wardrobe behind her.

It then opened to reveal two costumes that both of them easily recognized. They were cloth versions of the symbiote that Peter had once worn.

"You want us to wear those?" Mary Jane gasped.

"Yes," Director Hill replied, "the black will allow you to conceal yourselves more easily and the white spider will still identify you as 'spider-people'. And there is to be no arguing with my decision. You will wear these costumes, you Mrs. Parker can wait until after you've delivered, but you will both wear these costumes. Or you will be arrested."

Both of the sighed.

"Your mission, Spider-Man, is the same as before," Director Hill spoke authoritatively, "but you will now begin going after the Scrier bases in South America and the Caribbean."

Hill began to walk towards the door at the end of the room while Peter took one of the black costumes out to look at it closely.

"I'm going to end up looking like Venom in this," Peter grumbled nervously.

"Interesting you should mention that, Spider-Man," Director Hill spoke as she opened the door, "because meet your partner for the rest of this operation with the Scriers."

Peter and Mary Jane looked up to see Venom, himself, walk through the door. And this was clearly the original Venom. Peter immediately threw himself between the newcomer and MJ in case Venom tried anything.

"You can relax, wall-crawler," Venom gave a toothy smile, "We won't kill you, yet."

"You've hired Venom?" Mary Jane gasped from behind Peter, sounding terrified, "but he's a serial killer!"

"We do not deny that we have killed," Venom answered, "but all of that was to protect the innocent."

"Bull," Peter snorted, "You killed because you have a twisted mind. If you, Brock, or the symbiote that wears you truly cared for the innocent, you would not have spent years trying to kill or bond with me."

Venom gave a snarl and approached Peter directly. Despite knowing that Venom was easily stronger and faster then he was, Peter stood his ground. Mary Jane backed away nervously, her own spider-sense blaring like a jungle drum inside her head.

"You are fortunate that we have given our word to the 'lovely' director here that we would not harm you, today," Venom growled as he slowly reached forward and lifted Peter into the air, "or you would feel us snacking on your brains."

"Great," Peter grumbled sarcastically.

"That's enough," Director Hill ordered, "Venom has agreed to cooperate, and your S.H.I.E.L.D. escorts will be armed with flamethrowers and sonic-blasters to insure that he does not cause any trouble."

Venom then put Peter down. Peter looked back at MJ, and saw that while she was trying to stand firm, she was still deathly afraid of the symbiote and its host. Peter's only relief was that this symbiote was permanently bonded to Brock and it would never be able to go after him or MJ to try and bond with them. Of course, Brock killing them wouldn't be pleasant either. He then turned to Director Hill.

"I don't suppose I could ask for a more suitable partner?" Peter asked.

"Like who?" Director Hill replied, "the only other possible candidate is one Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, but she is working with a group of small time heroes and ex-cons in investigating some sort of smuggling business. The rest of the country's heroes are either rebelling with Steven Rogers or sitting on the fence with Iron Man, and your wife is pregnant. You will work with Venom, or I'll see to it that the two of you are locked up together. Either way, you're stuck with each other."  
Peter only sighed heavily and glanced at Venom who put on as good a fake sincere smile that he could. Sensing defeat, he only sighed again.

"Fine," Peter sighed, "I'll go get ready. I just hope you're prepared for when he comes back to bite you in the rear."

**Outside the Tower**

King Cobra peered out at Avenger's Tower from the roof of a nearby building. The plan to defeat Spider-Man and Arachne was rather simple. Ambush them when they left the tower, which they couldn't just assault for fear of battling more heroes then just Spider-Man and Arachne, along with several enraged S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He had also brought a few members of the Serpent Society with him to insure that they had the numbers to defeat the two arachnid themed heroes.

"Snakes versus spiders," Bushmaster smiled confidently, "How many pieces do you think we'll tear them into?"

"Several dozen," King Cobra smiled back, "Pit Viper, are they still in there?"

Pit Viper then slithered forward and let her forked tongue out of her mouth. Like Bushmaster, the female was supported by a long green snake's tail, but unlike Bushmaster, Pit Viper was no cyborg. King Cobra had the impression that she was a mutant and this was the result of her mutation. Her head resembled that of one of the species of pit vipers that lived in Europe and through her forked tongue and pits, she could track anything, even things she had not seen or touched before. She had a rather naga-like appearance, but unlike the myths, she still had her arms, and each finger was tipped with sharp claws.

"Both are still in the building, but appear to be on different levels," Pit Viper spoke, "Spider-Man is with someone else and is headed toward the hanger. Arachne appears be near the nerve center… and there are two others with her."

"We'll deal with Spider-Man for now," King Cobra decided, "once he's gone, they'll have to send Arachne after her missing partner."

Pit Viper, Bushmaster, Sidewinder, and Rattler all nodded. The alteration would change the plan, but only slightly and in no way jeopardized the intended result that King Cobra had envisioned. The hanger door on one of the upper floors opened and a S.H.I.. Jet flew out.

"Spider-Man is aboard the jet," Pit Viper spoke.

"Can you follow them?" King Cobra asked turning to Sidewinder.

"I can open a portal to where the are headed, yes," Sidewinder responded, "although it will take time to get there."

"So long as we get there," King Cobra spoke as Sidewinder began opening the interdimensional portal that would be needed to follow the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet.

**Baxter Building, Late Afternoon**

Mary Jane sighed nervously as she walked into the lobby of the Fantastic Four's headquarters. She had gone through several hours of testing, mostly test type questions relating to various situations of varying types. Some was more like a computer or video game, and some was physical testing that she and Peter had already done. Thankfully there were a few doctor's present that did nix many of them as being to dangerous to perform in her condition.

And that was the real problem she was dealing with. Her pregnancy was supposed to be a happy time, it was supposed to be quiet. Instead it was noisy and dangerous. She feared for Peter, who she couldn't help, and she was beginning to fear for the lives she was carrying. Something about Hill's behavior made her fear that S.H.I.E.L.D. would try to take her babies away from her. Remembering her earlier meeting with the Fantastic Four, she hoped that Susan Richards might have some advice for her, given that her family was commonly attacked by Doctor Doom and Galactus while she had been pregnant.

She slowly approached a large reception desk where a young blonde woman was typing on a computer.

"Excuse me, Miss," Mary Jane began to speak.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but the last tour for the day has already left," the woman spoke, "I can put you down for tickets to tomorrow's tour."

"No, I'm not here to take the tour," Mary Jane sighed, "My name is Mary Jane Watson-Parker, I need to speak with Susan Richards if she is available. She can even come down here if you're afraid about the building's security."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Parker, but it is against official policy to allow just anyone to speak with members of the Fantastic Four," the woman answered, "There a very short list of people that the FF allow into the Baxter Building residential and lab areas. Your name is not on that list. If you are not here to take the tour, then I must ask you to leave."

Mary Jane was beginning to get frustrated with the receptionist.

"Send a message up there that Arachne wishes to talk with the Invisible Woman," Mary Jane growled trying to hide her frustration.

The woman looked at her suspiciously and then asked rhetorically, "wouldn't another heroine use one of the windows or the roof entrance? Not the ground floor entrance?"

"Not when she's pregnant," Mary Jane answered, still trying not to sound angry.

"I'm going to have to ask you to…" the woman began to speak when she was cut off by a 'thwip' and a sticky cloth-like substance wrap around her mouth.

She then looked up at Mary Jane who still had her wrist in a position to fire more webs. She quickly began wresting with the webbing with her hands.

"Tell them that Arachne wishes to speak with the Invisible Woman," Mary Jane spoke in a low voice, sounding as though her patience was exhausted.

"Please wait over there," the woman spoke, pointing to a bench not that far away.

"Thank you," Mary Jane spoke and moved and sat down.

About five minutes later, Mary Jane looked up to see a blonde woman exit from one of the elevators.

"Mrs. Parker?" Susan Richards spoke as she approached, "You wished to speak with me?"

"Yes," Mary Jane nodded, "I hope you remember from when Peter and I visited here last."

Susan nodded, "I do. A surprising night for all involved."

Mary Jane shrugged, "anyway, I came for some advice regarding some things, if it isn't too much trouble at all."

"Sure," Susan nodded, "we can take this outside if you want."

"That would be nice," Mary Jane nodded.

**Bayamo, Cuba**

"Are you sure we won't be starting a war by coming here?" Spider-Man asked as he looked out one of the windows.

He still had his concerns about wearing the black costume, and about working with Venom, but he was trying to avoid starting a fight with him or the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in the jet with them.

"What, are you scarred of a few Cubans?" Venom taunted.

"No, I'm just not the type of person to start wars with foreign countries," Spider-Man answered.

"Our jet is stealth rigged," one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents spoke, "even if they catch on to your presence, we can deny you ever being there, and with your present costumes, you should be able to more easily escape detection."

"Only in the dark," Spider-Man grumbled, "Where are they?"

"According to the map, in the basement of the local church," the S.H.I.E.L.D. pilot spoke.

"Do you have any preferences on how the arrive to you?" Venom inquired.

"Alive," the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent answered, "now get going."

Spider-Man slowly followed Venom out a side door to the jet and the two dropped straight down toward the steeple of an old Catholic church. The landing was easy for the two of them, and they quickly moved in through a open window in the tower that had no glass on it.

"And now to the basement," Spider-Man sighed, "although I wonder why it has a basement. None of the churches in New York I've been to have basements."

"It's likely a crypt," Venom answered, "Catholic churches, particularly the old ones, place a crypt under the church for the church priests and important parishioners. That way, they're buried on holy ground and have a better shot at going to heaven."

Spider-Man looked as his normal nemesis as if the symbiote had grown a third leg, although he didn't think Venom could see that through his mask.

"We know these things," Venom answered, "we considered the priesthood before moving into journalism."

"Great," Spider-Man grumbled quietly to himself, "I'm stuck with the one villain who has religion."

The two continued descending a spiral staircase toward the ground level. As they approached it, Spider-Man's curiosity finally got the better of him.

"So, Brock, why did you agree do this?" Spider-Man asked, "other then getting out of jail… I don't think you'd be that thankful enough for me rebonding you with the symbiote to want to help me with bad guys you don't know."

Venom looked around to check if anyone was there. When he was certain there wasn't he answered.

"Because we want a favor of you, and we will get it," Venom spoke quietly as they approached another door to begin looking for the stairs to the basement.

"And what favor might this be?" Spider-Man asked nervously.

"Our child, Spider-Man, the future you rejected, and the one who bonded with Gargan," Venom answered, "S.H.I.E.L.D. has it locked in one of their prisons. We want you to gain access to it and return it to us. Nothing more."

"But, you said that when I rejected bonding with the symbiote again, that child gained all of the negative attributes of Brock, and due to the people it bonded with, it doesn't even balance those with Brock's positive attributes," Spider-Man gasped, "why would you want it back?"

"It is still our child, arachnid," Venom growled, "Would you abandon your offspring if they went bad?"

Spider-Man stopped to think of it for a moment. Mary Jane was pregnant back in New York, and he doubted she would ever abandon their future children. He doubted even more that he would abandon his children. He was about to answer when he door at the bottom of the staircase practically exploded throwing both of them against the fair wall.

"If the two of you didn't chatter like some insane monkey," came a voice from inside the smoke, "You might have had us by surprise."

Spider-Man looked up to see three Scriers, brandishing glowing swords appear from the chamber that the shattered door had lead to. Spider-Man also noticed that they also looked suddenly fearful of something when they looked at the webbed hero and villain. He didn't get time to ponder this as Venom lunged forward, shoving Spider-Man aside and tackling two of the Scriers.

"I guess it's just you and me," Spider-Man quipped as he shot a webline at the third Scrier, who had turned to help the two that Venom had tackled.

The webline hit the Scrier's sword and Spider-Man quickly pulled to disarm his opponent. The sword stopped glowing once it was in Spider-Man's hands.

"Enchanted swords," Spider-Man commented as he leaped up onto the wall to avoid a punch thrown at him by the Scrier, "King Arthur should sue you for copyright infringement."

Spider-Man then caught the Scrier with another webline and used it to pull the Scrier into the wall, knocking him out. He then dropped down to the ground to check on Venom, only to find that Brock had already knocked out the two Scriers, and the symbiote was already regenerating several slash wounds.

"You never do anything half-way, do you?" Spider-Man quipped as he noted the smashed swords and dented bricks behind Venom.

"That is strike one," Venom growled, "two more, and I WILL eat you."

Spider-Man only gulped as Venom began carrying the two Scriers up the stairs toward the ground level. Spider-Man only sighed and recovered the Scrier he had faced and began to follow Venom back up the stairs.

King Cobra and his group appeared less then a block away from Sidewinder's portal.

"Where are they?" King Cobra demanded, turning to Pit Viper, "Our pay is on the line, here."

"The S.H.I.E.L.D. jet is hovering above that church, although it is currently invisible to all other forms of detection," Pit Viper answered, "Spider-Man and his partner are inside the church."

"Why would they be in the church?" Bushmaster asked, "are dirty priests on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s list of targets now?"

"I would guess that our employers were using the church as a cover," King Cobra replied, "Rattler, bring down their jet. Scramble their engines."

"Right away," Rattler said with a smile and pointed the end of his bionic tail at where Pit Viper was pointing.

Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet, the two agents were casually sipping from travel mugs, full of coffee, while waiting for Spider-Man and Venom to return with the Scriers. They felt relatively confident as the Scriers were hiding underground and for the first time to them, Spider-Man was partnered with someone who had real experience at the superhuman game. Venom had just appeared in the window of the church with two heavily webbed Scriers over his shoulders.

"Better take her down," the pilot commented and slowly began to lower the craft.

The descent stopped when there was a great 'boom' and something hit the back of the jet, nudging it forward several feet in the air. It knocked out the jet's stealth device, making it visible, which made the two agents nervous. Another 'boom' hit the jet again, this time sending it spiraling out of control away from the town.

Spider-Man arrived at the top of the tower stairs to see the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet falling out of the sky.

"Jeez, what's going on?" Spider-Man wondered aloud.

"Our best guess is that these people have friends," Venom growled as he held up a Scrier, "we should kill them."

"No," Spider-Man spoke, "if you're going straight, you'll need to learn that heroes don't kill. They disable."

Venom only glared at him, making Spider-Man back away. Venom was about to growl something when a different voice cut him off.

"All the more reason to be the villain," came King Cobra's voice from a portal above the two of them.

It was then that the Serpent Society made their attack. King Cobra landed a kick on Spider-Man's chest, knocking him over the side of the ledge and sending him tumbling down the hollow middle of the church's tower. King Cobra, Pit Viper, and Bushmaster were quick to follow after him. Sidewinder and Rattler landed on the stone platform on either side of Venom, who casually tossed the webbed up Scriers he had out the window.

"Finally," Venom gave a toothy smile, "someone we can kill."

**New York**

"So, how have you and Peter made out with these 'Scriers', I believe he called them?" Susan asked as she and Mary Jane walked through a fairly quiet section of Central Park.

"Pretty good, I'd think," Mary Jane replied, "we captured all the ones from the New York area. Chased them all the way to Newark, chased them back here, and captured them all. It's some of the stuff that's happened since that has made me nervous."

"The stuff with the Registration Act is bothering you, I take it?" Susan asked.

"A bit, but most of the stuff that's bothering me are side issues," Mary Jane answered, "Peter and I did register, so I guess you could say we've chosen our side in the 'conflict', but it's all much more complicated then that."

"Nothing is ever simple in this business," Susan sighed, "it'd be best if you start at the beginning."

"Well," Mary Jane sighed, "it started shortly after we'd captured the last of the New York area Scriers. Things were quiet, and Peter and I decided if we were to have a family it would be best to do it now while we were young enough to raise a family and while nothing was going on."

Susan glanced over, but didn't say anything.

"Peter and I have successfully conceived twins," Mary Jane continued, "but all this Registration stuff exploded just as we found out. We registered because I couldn't go underground for the duration of the pregnancy… although I don't know what we would have done if I wasn't pregnant… and so far it seems like S.H.I.E.L.D. is taking things too far."

Susan sighed heavily. She wanted to congratulate the red-head on her pregnancy, but things were so troubled right now that that probably wasn't the best idea at the moment. But, she still wanted to help. She knew 'Mary Jane Watson' from cleaning up after her brother, who had several copies of magazines in which the red-head had modeled in, and there was at least one poster that fallen off of a wall.

She had known of 'Mary Jane Watson-Parker' from Spider-Man's frequent trips to the Fantastic Four to ask for help, and she had also seen the actress in one of the recent plays she had been in. Susan thought the red-head had done well in the performance, and between Spider-Man's comments on her and what she saw in the performance, she had actually come to like the red-head, even though they hadn't met until most recently, when Mary Jane had added being Arachne to her list of achievements.

"Now, S.H.I.E.L.D. has had us going around after the rest of the Scrier bases around the world, which could be a good thing, as it keeps us away from all this 'Cap is evil' nonsense," Mary Jane finished, "but I'm now far enough along that I can't help Peter, and Hill has paired him up with the original Venom and has made him wear that ugly black costume."

"I think I see what the problem is," Susan sighed.

"What she's doing is wrong," Mary Jane insisted, "the black costume… Venom… it's all WRONG!"

"Yes, I know," Susan sighed, "but I'm not sure what there is we can do here. Reed has been rather supportive of the whole Registration idea, but even he has some concerns about the way the government has been handling things. Privately, I think he wants Tony to replace Hill as S.H.I.E.L.D. Director."

"Couldn't hurt, I suppose," Mary Jane sighed, "but it still doesn't help my situation. Those S.H.I.E.L.D. agents can't beat Venom. Peter's told me half a dozen stories about instances where Venom has endured fire or high frequency sound to get at Peter. And I'm helpless until I give birth. How did you put up with all of your villains attacking the Baxter Building while you were pregnant?"

Susan then sighed, sensing that there was more to this then just concerns over the Registration Act.

"I'm not sure if I can really help you with that," Susan answered nervously, "I can't really recall any instances where someone has attacked the Baxter Building for the same reasons some of Spider-Man's foes have gone after him. Galactus's goal is the entire planet, not just one building or hero. Doom has usually been interested only in Reed's labs to try and steal something… or he's wanted me personally, although that is a different issue. And with my ability with force-fields, I can protect myself from harm against most foes…"

Mary Jane only looked down.

"And when I was pregnant, I had to step down as the Invisible Woman," Susan continued, "She-Hulk and Crystal from time to time have filled in from time to time. The only time that I had trouble with a pregnancy was with Valerie, but that had nothing to do with a super villain, other then its obvious additional stress… which you'd probably want to avoid."

Susan only paused for a short while before finishing.

"You may simply have to power through this and hope for the best," Susan sighed, "Hill won't be running S.H.I.E.L.D. forever, and the Registration Act is already rubbing a lot of people the wrong way. Maybe things will change for the better before your babies are due."

"I hope so," Mary Jane responded, "because the way things are going now, is completely wrong. I can understand being afraid of people with superhuman powers, but trying turn us into machines that don't question anything? Or hiring a known serial killer when other things aren't working out? That should be more then enough repeal the Registration Act. And the way things are going, I fear they're going to take my children from me."

Susan only looked up nervously in the general direction of Avengers Tower, where S.H.I.E.L.D. was operating out of. Things were getting worse. The superhuman community was divided over the Registration Act and seemed to be on the verge of an open civil war. So far, Cap and Tony's nonviolent arrangement was the only thing preventing an all out brawl between the too camps. Things were not going well.

**Bayamo, Cuba**

Venom lunged forward at Rattler first, sensing that the large bionic tail that he had could be used as a giant club, making Rattler more dangerous then Sidewinder. He began to rethink that when a portal suddenly appeared in front of him, and he ended up diving into it. When he emerged from it, Venom was falling in a direct line of fire with Rattler's tail. The other snake themed villain didn't hesitate to fire a sonic blast from his tail, knocking Venom back, screaming with pain.

"That looked like it hurt," Sidewinder smiled and opened a portal behind Venom before he could fall down the tower, and opened another so that Venom would emerge in front of Rattler's tail again.

Rattler fired another blast at Venom from point blank range, sending him flying toward the far wall of the tower. Sidewinder tried to send him through another portal when Venom caught him with a webline of his own. He then pulled the smaller Serpent Society member closer to him and gripped Sidewinder by the neck as he landed on the far wall.

Rattler looked on as he watched the Venom symbiote regenerate itself around its host from the damage his sonic-blasts had done. He wanted to fire another blast, but Venom was moving around the upper portions of the walls of the tower, and without Sidewinder to set up the shot, he didn't want to risk missing and bring the roof down on himself.

"THAT," Venom growled in a low voice as he crushed Sidewinder's neck with one hand, "was unpleasant."

Rattler gulped he watched Venom drop Sidewinder's lifeless body down the tower and lunge forward again. If he was to survive, he would need to rely on his sonic blasts.

Spider-Man managed to catch himself with a pair of weblines and made a graceful landing on the ground floor of the church. King Cobra and Pit Viper landed in front of him. Bushmaster landed behind him, crushing some of the stone.

"If this is about my third grade science fair project, I'm sorry," Spider-Man spoke as they moved to circle around him.

"This is nothing personal, Spider-Man," King Cobra answered, "We were hired to catch you."

"Oh great, that makes it much better," Spider-Man commented as his spider-sense went off at full force.

He leaped up and backward to avoid being stabbed in back by Bushmaster's forearm mounted fangs. He then watched as Pit Viper began slithering around to the walls to charge him. She slashed him with her claws, making Spider-Man hop out of reach.

"Hold it," Spider-Man spoke quickly as he fired out a pair of weblines that caught Pit Viper's arms and webbed them to her sides, "I don't slash on the first date!"

Pit Viper struggled against the webbing, but couldn't free her arms. Thankfully though, her tail still worked and she began to slither toward Spider-Man again.

"How about a kiss then?" Pit Viper asked, opening her mouth to reveal snake like fangs.

"Yikes," Spider-Man gulped and jumped to get away, only to be hit by Bushmaster's tail, knocking him through the doors into the sanctuary.

Bushmaster then lead the way into the sanctuary as Spider-Man recovered by the alter. King Cobra followed behind after he had freed Pit Viper of the webbing. To a certain extent, Spider-Man actually preferred being in the larger room. He was faster then any of his opponents and with more room to maneuver, it would be nearly impossible for them to corner him.

King Cobra didn't even give Bushmaster a shot at cornering Spider-Man and began firing on the webbed hero with a pair of blasters he had on him. Warned by his spider-sense, Spider-Man easily avoided the shots, leaped into the air and flipped upside-down. As he sailed through the air, he fired a pair of weblines that caught King Cobra by his shoulders. When Spider-Man landed on the far wall, he used his momentum and strength to use the weblines like a slingshot, throwing King Cobra against the wall below him. The leader of the Serpent Society hit the wall face first and was quickly unconscious.

His victory over the leader, however, was short lived as Pit Viper began to slither up the wall after him, and Bushmaster began to approach the wall. Spider-Man still knew that he would need to keep his wits about him if he was going to come out of this battle alive.

With Sidewinder dead, Venom felt more confident in dealing with Rattler. The Serpent Society member's sonic-blasts were painful to the symbiote, but by judging the actions in the first part of the battle, Venom had determined that Rattler would not be as effective without Sidewinder setting up easy shots for him.

"You thought you could stop us?" Venom growled as he leaped from wall to wall to set up his attack, "attacking our other's weakness?"

Venom then landed a strong kick to Rattler's chest, knocking him to the ground.

"You are about to learn that we are far stronger then that!" Venom growled and extended his claws to a length long enough to decapitate an elephant.

Venom brought his claws down, only to have Rattler move away and blast at Venom at close range. The blast was only a glancing blow, but it was still enough to knock Venom back. Venom easily shot out a webline and swung around the inside of the tower to land a kick to Rattler's back and kicked the Serpent Society member into the wall of the tower. As Venom added his own weight into the attack, Rattler ended up going through the tower and landed on the roof of the sanctuary where Spider-Man was fighting.

While Rattler tried to recover, Venom extended his claws again and cut the end of Rattler's bionic tail off. When Rattler managed to get up again, Venom hit him with a strong left cross knocking him out. Venom wanted to do more then knock him out, but the sound of something crashing through the wall of the sanctuary below him made him settle for wrapping Rattler up in webbing and moving back toward the tower to check on Spider-Man.

Spider-Man watched as Pit Viper slithered to a point above him and while Bushmaster threw various pews aside to move close to where Spider-Man was. Smiling under his mask, Spider-Man quickly figured out a way to cut the number villains he was facing in half.

"Come on," Spider-Man taunted, "You really think the two of you can simply bludgeon me to death? I've faced far more then you before and far better, too. Smarter, too. You'd need at least a dozen more before you'd win."

Both growled angrily. Pit Viper lunged forward, hoping to sink her fangs and claws into Spider-Man's shoulder, while Bushmaster hoped to crush the arachnid themed hero with his tail. Spider-Man, warned by his spider-sense, easily avoided the two blows and Bushmaster's tail actually hit Pit Viper in the head, knocking the female Serpent Society member senseless and shattering that section of the wall. Spider-Man smirked again as he saw that his plan had worked perfectly. Bushmaster looked out the hole he had just knocked in the wall and gave a low growl of his own.

Spider-Man quickly fired out a webline to try and pull Bushmaster into a punch of his own, only to have Bushmaster catch the webline and pull Spider-Man off of the ground. The cyborg member of the Serpent Society was about to stab Spider-Man in the chest with his extended forearm mounted fang when his cybernetics was hit in the back by extended pieces of the Venom symbiote. Bushmaster screamed with pain, while Spider-Man twisted in Bushmaster's grasp to kick the cyborg villain in the face, knocking him out.

"Uh, thanks," Spider-Man commented once he freed himself from the unconscious Bushmaster's free hand.

"Save it," Venom growled, "you allowed these two to destroy a house of God. Regardless of your intentions, you allowed it to happen, and we do not like that."

Spider-Man gulped as Venom then grabbed him and held him held him close to Venom's sharp teeth.

"And even if you didn't allow these 'things' to destroy this church," Venom growled again, "we still do not like you."

"Sorry," Spider-Man spoke as Venom dropped him to the ground and began webbing up the now unconscious Serpent Society member.

The restraining and gathering of the defeated Serpent Society villains proceeded quietly. If Venom was curious about why they had appeared, he didn't say, and Spider-Man, fearful of starting another fight, didn't ask if he was. By the time they had gathered them all, the S.H.I.E.L.D. jet returned, although it appeared to have lost its stealth mode for the moment.

"Load them all in quickly," the second agent said quickly, "local police has left their offices, and the government has deployed two jets."

"I knew S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to start a war with all this," Spider-Man grumbled sarcastically.

**Unknown Location**

The leader of all of the Scriers looked on nervously as his priest approached, looking extremely nervous.

"What did you see?" the leader asked, sensing his priest's nervousness.

"The vision continues," the priest warned, "the black spiders have appeared. One is most certainly Spider-Man. The other is Venom."

"We can expect them to strike here soon," the leading Scrier spoke in a nervous voice.

The Priest nodded. The leader of the Scriers then turned to several lieutenants standing behind him.

"You are to begin recalling all our members here," the leader spoke to the lower ranking Scriers, "we must be prepared to defend our headquarters and our master should the black spiders try to destroy us."

**To Be Continued…**


	9. Crossing Lines

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee, and owned by the Walt Disney Corporation (Disney bought Marvel). No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 9: Crossing Lines**

**Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane sat quietly with Aunt May as the two women were watching a live broadcast coming from Washington DC. Things had not been easy. The 'fighting' over the Registration Act, and now the Red Skull was coming to Washington to make some sort of joint announcement with the President about the War on Terror. And that was something that successfully angered everyone. She was certain that Cap hated it, and from what she had heard, Tony didn't like it either. She wondered extensively why the Red Skull was being tolerated on American soil.

On the Scrier front, Director Hill still had Peter partnered with Venom, and while the symbiote wearing villain hadn't actually done anything to Peter, Mary Jane was still nervous about the situation. Peter had beaten Venom before, against the symbiote with Brock, Peter had always come back sporting some major bruises at best and potentially broken bones. She wanted to be with him to make sure that Venom couldn't try anything, but in her twenty-fifth week, it was clear to anyone who saw her that she was pregnant.

That was one of the few areas where Mary Jane felt things were going well. Her pregnancy had kept her out of the 'civil war' going on between Cap and S.H.I.E.L.D. and at present, her twins were much larger then when she had had her first ultrasound of them done. She could feel them move inside her, and something about that made her feel content when they did move in her womb, usually kicking her bladder.

"Are you okay, dear?" Aunt May asked politely from her spot on the couch next to MJ.

"I'm fine," Mary Jane told her, "just looking back at how things are going."

Aunt May glanced between the television and Mary Jane running one hand over the swell of her womb. For Aunt May, the greatest problem was watching the 'civil war' rage from the sidelines. Cap had been a hero that everyone in her generation nearly worshiped. And she didn't like the fact that the Registration, the cause of all the current trouble made that hero out to be a criminal, and that Cap's greatest foe walked free without even the slightest suspicion.

As both the president and the Red Skull approached a podium in front of the White House, Aunt May's face changed from one that was happy and supportive of her niece-in-law, to one of great disappointment.

"I still can't believe we're doing business with that man," Aunt May spoke firmly toward the television.

"He's likely using the Cosmic Cube's power to essentially blind them to what he's really doing," came Tony Stark's voice from the doorway to the living room that they were in.

"I thought they'd have you in the main Avengers area," Mary Jane answered the billionaire as he moved to stand near the far wall while still watching the television.

"They don't need me there, and to be honest, I'm tired of listening to upstart S.H.I.E.L.D. agents talk about how they know everyone's villains better then the heroes that battle them do," Tony answered, "So I came out here."

"Have you heard anything from Peter?" Mary Jane asked.

"According to the tracking signal, he and Venom and the S.H.I.E.L.D. team with them are still somewhere in South America," Tony sighed, "although it looked like southern Chile or Argentina, so they could be moving on to a new location."

They turned to back the television for a moment and watched as what looked like an unruly mob was throwing tomatoes at the Red Skull.

"Looks like not everyone has been fooled," Mary Jane commented.

The three kept watching until the Skull began to get flustered and struck a blonde S.H.I.E.L.D. agent standing behind him. Then a red, white, and blue Greek-style shield flew through the air and hit the Red Skull. Cap and the Falcon were quick to appear after that. What followed was absolute chaos as Director Hill called forth several known super villains. Leading them was someone that Mary Jane and Peter had sent to prison before her present pregnancy… the Green Goblin.

"That witch didn't…!?!" Mary Jane gasped.

"Didn't you and Peter just put him away?" Tony asked, sounding equally shocked.

"Six months ago," Mary Jane answered and rubbed her stomach, "before this happened."

Aunt May was too speechless to say anything.

"Come on, Cap," Tony spoke aloud, finding himself rooting for the man he'd 'promised' to hunt down.

**Elsewhere**

The overall leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers sighed heavily as a council of Scriers gathered in a long hall carved out of a mountain. The crisis in America over its Registration Act and the tensions between America's superheroes and the Red Skull was not their concern. Their prime concern was stopping the two spider themed superhumans that were capturing their bases one at a time. Spider-Man and Venom.

Their move through the Caribbean and South America had been rapid, and the lone 'pawn' they had been able to obtain to defend their holdings there, the Serpent Society, had been defeated. They were beginning to become desperate in their search for something or someone that could stop the 'black spiders' from destroying them.

"We must find an agent of greater power," the leading Scrier spoke, "the future the Priests have foreseen is coming. The black spiders are already attacking… and all that we have turned to have been little more the petty thugs."

"We could go up a level," one Scrier offered.

"To what?" the leading Scrier replied, "Men like Dr. Doom, organizations like Hydra, and the Hand will expect compensation in kind. Either in services, or money… which, for us, would be a repeat of the mistakes we made with Osborn. We need someone who would be indebted to us."

"That rarely leaves us without any alternative then to turn to petty thugs," a second Scrier pointed out, "It might be better to turn to more 'local' thugs to where Spider-Man and Venom are headed. It might save us the problem of having to go looking for villains."

"Most of the world's villains all operate in the New York area," a third Scrier grumbled, "Only Doctor Doom and Magneto have histories of using locations other then New York City as a base."

"There are others," a fourth Scrier suggested, "although it would require the use of all the mystical elements we have developed or conveniently bought or stolen."

"What are you thinking of?" the lead Scrier inquired.

"Do you remember when our Manhattan branch discovered the man known as Ezekiel traveling alongside Spider-Man in much the same way that Spider-Man does?" the fourth Scrier asked back.

The lead Scrier nodded, "Yes. They found he had some wish to take over Spider-Man's role, but also deemed that he lacked the actual will to actually DO something with his powers… and since the Manhattan branch is now imprisoned, I doubt we'll learn anything more about him."

"I have managed to keep track of his activities," the fourth Scrier spoke, "and I found it amazing how much his path crossed Spider-Man's… and in doing so, I believe there is a being who might be quite thankful for being saved by us."

"And who is this creature?" the lead Scrier asked.

"A being currently imprisoned inside a temple in Africa called Shathra, the Spider-Wasp," the fourth Scrier answered.

**Over Puerto Harberton, Argentina**

"So, how do you like being one of the good guys for once?" Peter asked in a semi-mischievous, semi-nervous voice.

"Must you always ask us that after every mission?" Brock asked, "We both know that we do not like you and you do not like us."

"I'm just making conversation," Peter answered, "besides, you're still better company then the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents along with us… I mean you saying you're better then me is one thing, but they are quite a different issue."

Brock looked out toward the cockpit of the S.H.I.E.L.D. craft they were in, but remained silent. The latest attempt at conversation likely had to do with the 'civil war' going on between America's heroes. Many went underground with Cap, protesting that the act was too harsh, while many others sided with Iron Man that the act was necessary. From what he had gathered, Spider-Man had only registered because his wife was pregnant and needed the medical attention. Brock had no true loyalty to either side, but he did agree with his rival's criticism of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with them.

The two agents routinely interjected their thoughts on the 'civil war' and what was and was not being done. Now, if Brock truly were a villain, he wouldn't care what the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were saying. But, Brock had always seem himself as a defender of the innocent, not as a villain. He didn't like the antagonism that S.H.I.E.L.D. was forcing on both Cap and Iron Man, both of whom were heroes that Brock had respected, even if under most circumstances they would meet as foes.

But that wasn't enough to make him a fan of Spider-Man. The symbiote had always preferred Parker to him as a host, and he personally hated Spider-Man for robbing him of his own perceived innocence. The wrongs that S.H.I.E.L.D. was doing would never be enough to undo the wrongs that Peter Parker/Spider-Man had done to Eddie Brock and the symbiote.

"That does not make us friends," Brock growled in a low voice, "and if it weren't for the present 'civil war' that has put us together, we would destroy you…"

"And eat my brains," Peter grumbled, "I know. You know, part of me wishes you would just let this revenge thing go. What would it gain for you? I made sure you're permanently bonded with the symbiote, keeping you alive, and canceling out any old wishes the symbiote has to be with me… and if you kill me, you have to know that your past crimes as Venom won't be forgiven."

Brock didn't answer, which Peter guessed meant that either he didn't have an answer, or didn't want to continue the conversation. He sighed and decided to walk toward the cockpit of the craft they were in. He found he two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents quietly piloting the craft.

"So, what's the plan now?" Peter asked, "We take a break for a bit? See people we haven't seen in a few months?"

The two agents glanced back Peter with some degree of suspicion. They knew his wife and normal partner was pregnant and that the arachnid themed hero wished to be with her, but he voiced that opinion rather regularly. And, to the two military trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, that sort of mentality struck them as whining, which they were trained never to do.

"Since most of the Scrier bases in South America seemed to be evacuated before our arrival, we will be heading to Africa next," the pilot spoke, "hopefully they'll also be abandoned and we can move on to the scattered Scrier bases in the pacific and Australia before moving on to Asia."

"Why Asia last?" Peter asked curiously.

"We believe Asia is where their prime base is located," the pilot answered, "It'll be where the biggest fight will be, and the director would prefer it that they not escape as has so often happened with organizations like this."

"I hate to tell you this, but the reason why groups like this manage to escape that way is because they're beaten by a lone hero," Peter informed them, "like me, for example, and it's rare that one man or woman, regardless of their powers, is able to knock out everyone. Once these groups realize they've been beaten, they tend to scatter, knowing that I couldn't catch all of them… and sometimes even groups have problems with that… haven't some members of Hydra managed to escape S.H.I.E.L.D. strike teams from time to time?"

"If that has happened, it was because some superhuman decided to intervene," the copilot spoke, "every S.H.I.E.L.D. operation launched has been clean and effective. Which is why we have the Registration Act now. You 'heroes' are finally being lead by someone who knows what he or she is doing, rather then just running around in spandex."

"And the director is making the right decision by obsessing over Cap and letting the Red Skull go free?" Peter asked.

"Steven Rogers is a traitor," the copilot answered, "remember that. As for the Red Skull, there is no evidence and as a foreign leader, he can not simply be attacked."

"That hasn't stopped the government before, and it certainly wouldn't have stopped Fury," Peter commented.

"Yeah, and where is Fury now?" the pilot asked back, "he just as much a wanted man as Rogers is."

**Avengers Tower, USA**

Mary Jane was waiting when Maria Hill returned to the tower. The S.H.I.E.L.D. director looked rather flustered about something, likely what had recently happened in Washington, but pregnant heroine was not about to back down. She felt she had to voice her opinion. Norman Osborn had already cost her one child. She wasn't about to give him the chance to take her current set of twins in her womb.

"Good evening, Mrs. Parker," Hill greeted her coldly, "I'm afraid I have not had time to review your latest simulations, so you have nothing to worry about."

"You're wrong there," Mary Jane answered as she moved to block the other woman's way, "after what I saw on television, I would think that I have plenty to worry about."

"Rogers will be captured and shot," Hill grunted, "and in your present condition, I would be in agreement with your doctor that you should not be chasing after a terrorist with US military training."

"I don't care about what happens to Cap," Mary Jane answered, "one way or another, the conflict over the Registration Act will end… what concerns me is that you're using known killers to enforce that law."

"It was a necessary measure, Ms. Parker," Hill growled, "a measure I do not need to defend in front of you. You are a soldier under MY command. Your sole duty in life is to obey my orders."

"So I'm to stand by and let Norman Osborn kill my children because you think he's a patriot?" Mary Jane growled.

"They're wearing powerful control collars designed to insure obedience," Hill answered.

"Which Osborn is likely smart enough to disable, and probably even designed while working as Osborn Industries CEO," Mary Jane growled again, "that 'man' has already robbed me of one child! And now you've put him in a place where he could take my twins from me… and we delivered him to you to serve out his time for the crimes he has committed as the Green Goblin!"

"One, whatever technology Osborn Industries sold to S.H.I.E.L.D. has no affect on what effect that technology has on people," Hill answered, "Osborn may have designed them, but he can't break them. They'd shut him down if he tried. Two, he is serving his time. He's been given an opportunity to reform and prove his loyalty to the government, loyalty which your friends like Tony Stark have not fully shown. And three, why would he want to take your children?"

"Because he's a monster that has spent the better part of his life trying to kill my husband, and has successfully killed one of my best friends and my husband's former lover, his own son, my first child, all to get at my husband… and likely now to get to me," Mary Jane answered, "As scary as Eddie Brock is, from what Peter's told me, Eddie Brock has some concept of 'right and wrong'. The only thing that Norman Osborn cares about is power. You've crossed a line, Hill, and every hero, regardless of whether or not we've registered knows it."

"The Thunderbolts are not being housed in Avengers Tower," Hill answered, "so I doubt he will even know that you're pregnant, and won't so long as you remain in the tower. And as I said before, you are subordinate to ME in the chain of command, so unless you want to be returned to active field duty where your precious twins will be endangered, I suggest you let me continue with my work."

Hill then shoved Mary Jane aside and kept walking. Concerned that fighting would risk her twins, Mary Jane didn't fight, but let Maria Hill walk on, but she was now certain of one thing. Maria Hill was every bit a villain as any of the foes Peter had fought over the years if she was so willing to let someone like Norman Osborn go free.

**Unknown Temple, Ghana**

The Scrier that had suggested the use of the being known as Shathra and two other Scriers slowly made their way inside the tent that covered the underground temple where Shathra had been defeated. The temple didn't look like had changed much since the battle that had gone on there between Spider-Man and Shathra.

"Nothing much has changed here," one of the lower ranking Scriers commented as he looked around the area.

"Ezekiel was trying to research the temple about some sort of spiritual connection between man and spiders," the leader of the small group of Scriers commented, "he did his best to insure that the structure was preserved against the elements or any other sort of vandal."

The three Scriers then walked out to the center of a large platform that seemed to have been carved in the shape of a large spider.

"Whoever carved this must have been obsessed," the other lower ranking Scrier commented, "were you able to learn about anything that this Ezekiel found out here?"

"No, he disappeared before I could find out anything, and the Manhattan branch which had our only files on him has been destroyed," the lead Scrier sighed, "so we must be careful of any spiders here. For all we know, they're even more venomous here."

"So where is Shathra?" the first Scrier asked looking around the area, failing to see any sign of any sort of creature.

"Down there," the leading Scrier said, pointing to a large and deep hole in the middle of the carved spider statue, "with a lot of spiders."

Both of the subordinate Scriers looked down the hole and grumbled at the darkness down there. One then pulled a small pouch full of powder from inside his robes and threw it down the hole. Once in the air, the powder began to automatically glow, making it much clearer to see to the bottom of the pit. At the a bottom was the emaciated remains of something that looked vaguely like a woman, but had no mouth and its eyes resembled the eye-pieces on Spider-Man's mask, and there were two twin growths on its back that were torn, but looked like wings.

"It looks dead," the second Scrier commented.

"Which is why we will need to employ the spells we stole from the Hand," the lead Scrier answered, "from what I learned, while Spider-Man essentially won the battle, he did not deliver the final blow. From what little I could steal from Ezekiel, the battle attracted many other spiders that came to Spider-Man's aide."

"So, he didn't beat this Shathra on his own," the first Scrier commented as the Scriers began to descend to the bottom of the pit.

"No, he didn't," the lead Scrier admitted, "which is another reason why I believe this Shathra could be useful."

The descent to the bottom of the pit was calm, and no spiders showed themselves. Once there, the leading Scrier pulled out several potions and a small spell book from his robes.

"We must work fast," the lead Scrier spoke, "Shathra's rebirth will attract the attention of the locals."

The leading Scrier then began going through the incantations needed to resurrect the killed inter-dimensional creature. The other two Scriers entered in the casting of the spell where needed and soon the potions poured onto Shathra's body began to glow with a light that made the word 'light' seem like an oxymoron for the situation. Then what appeared to be a column of blackness tore through the roof of the tent and descended down toward Shathra's body, making the three Scriers step back. After a few moments, the glow faded.

Once it did so, Shathra slowly rose to her feet and slowly looked around the pit before looking at the lead Scrier through glowing faded blue eyes.

"You are not little spider," Shathra spoke in a low voice.

"We are not Spider-Man," the lead Scrier answered, "You are correct there, but that is not important…"

Shathra cut him off by driving him to the wall of the pit they were in.

"You work with little spider!?" Shathra accused.

"No, we're trying to kill him!" the second Scrier shouted, hoping that would get their proposed agent to release their leader.

"You feed him to your children?" Shathra questioned.

"No, we merely wish him dead," the lead Scrier answered, "we hoped that you would do the deed for us…"

"Shathra does not kill for vengeance," Shathra told the lead Scrier, tightening her grip on his throat, "Shathra captures to feed her children. Little spider is Shathra's natural enemy… natural prey. You see to rob Shathra of her future."

"You owe us, wasp," the lead Scrier commented weakly, "Spider-Man killed you in your last encounter."

"Impossible," Shathra replied in a disbelieving tone, "Little spider is not strong enough to kill Shathra. He had help… help from a larger spider… a darker spider then Shathra."

"Regardless of who did that deed," the first Scrier responded, "the fact of the matter remains that you were killed. We brought you back to life so that you could both help us and provide for your offspring."

"We can even help you get to Spider-Man quicker," the second Scrier added.

Shathra then released the lead Scrier.

"You would help Shathra?" she asked.

"Of course," the lead Scrier choked out from the ground, "we may have different reasons for wanting Spider-Man dead, but I would think the end result would be the same."

"Where is little spider?" Shathra asked.

**Cape Town, South Africa**

Peter looked out the window of the S.H.I.E.L.D. craft that he and Venom were riding in as it flew over the South African port city. Now, to some extent being in a new place might be interesting to see new places and learn about the people there, but Peter knew that he had a mission to accomplish as he pulled down his mask to take on his role as Spider-Man. He didn't like the black costume he wore, but he doubted S.H.I.E.L.D. would let him resume wearing his traditional colors.

"So, whereabouts is the Scrier base around here?" Spider-Man asked he looked down at he rows of buildings below them.

"It's underground with the entrance hidden in a storm-sewer tunnel," the pilot answered, "You won't be able to miss it when you get there."

The copilot then pressed a button and two doors in the compartment that Spider-Man and Eddie Brock, now fully encased in the Venom symbiote, were in, opened. Spider-Man looked out fairly nervously to find that they were already over the storm-sewer that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent said the base was in.

"No time like he present," Spider-Man grumbled and he dove out of the craft, with Venom falling alongside him.

They both landed easily, but Venom took the lead to enter the storm-sewer first. Spider-Man let him go and hoped the Scriers had a sonic blaster or a flamethrower. They went twenty feet down the pipe, before Venom stopped at what looked like a solid concrete wall.

"I think we need to make a turn," Spider-Man commented as he pointed to a side tunnel that likely followed a street they were under.

"That's what you think," Venom answered and held out a small hand held electronic device that looked like it had a map on the screen, "This wall is the door."

Spider-Man watched as Venom held the device up and then lowered it and placed it in an artificial pouch that the symbiote created for him.

"They gave you a portable tracker?" Spider-Man gasped in surprise, "That's so not fair."

"What can we say," Venom snickered, "S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't like whiners."

Venom then turned back to the concrete wall and smashed it with relative ease, sending a cloud of dust into the air as he knocked the wall down. Spider-Man then followed him into the base coughing as he went.

"You know if that was the door, you didn't have to smash it," Spider-Man told him, "doors can be opened."

"All we have is a map to the door," Venom answered, "We never said anything about a key, and if you do not stop whining, we will silence you permanently."

Spider-Man grumbled something under his breath and followed Venom into the base. To his surprise, there were no Scriers waiting there to meet them. There were other corridors, so the arachnid themed hero guessed that they could be waiting to get them alone in those smaller passageways, but given that the best the Scriers had was either in black magic or martial arts training, he doubted they would hide in a spot where they couldn't maneuver.

"Which tunnel do you want to take?" Spider-Man asked, "I'll take the one opposite."

Venom grumbled and head to the closest tunnel to the right. Spider-Man chuckled, hoping he'd annoyed Venom and headed to the left. The tunnels that were there lead to several empty rooms, which startled and puzzled Spider-Man greatly. He expected the Scriers to defend every base with ferocious tenacity, as befitting their extremist attitudes. But instead of black robed ninjas, Spider-Man walked past empty offices and barracks.

Spider-Man kept going along the passageway, which curved in a half circle until it came to an intersection with a different hallway, which looked like it lead back to the entrance chamber that they had entered earlier. He also found an irate looking Venom coming toward him.

"You couldn't find any of them either?" Spider-Man quipped.

"They've fled," Venom growled, "they send us half way around the world to find NOTHING!"

Spider-Man cringed as Venom vented his anger on the wall, and felt grateful that he wasn't a victim of the symbiote's anger this time.

"Maybe they're scared of you," Spider-Man suggested, "I know I'm scared of you."

"You at least fight," Venom growled and turned to walk up the hallway they hadn't used, "and you've had the frustrating habit of winning… these Scriers have simply left."

Spider-Man shrugged as he followed Venom down the hallway. For the most part, this was nothing new. After they raided the Scrier base in Cuba and had their run in with the Serpent Society, many of the Scrier bases in South and Central America had been abandoned, although not all of them. Spider-Man guessed that the Scriers were trying to pull back and set some sort of trap that would eventually pit him and Venom against so many Scriers that eventually their numbers would overwhelm them.

Venom, however, had not come to that conclusion and seemed frustrated with every abandoned base that they found. Spider-Man only hoped that Venom remained in control of his temper at times like this and knew that he had promised not to harm him. While the symbiote bonded villain walked out, Spider-Man activated the small communicator that linked him to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in their craft.

"Hey, you guys still alive up there?" Spider-Man asked.

"Yeah," came the pilot's voice over the communicator, "do you have 'em?"

"No one here to get," Spider-Man answered, "we're on our way back to you, and be warned, Venom's a little grumpy."

"Alright, we'll be…" the pilot responded, "Holy… what is that?!"

Spider-Man's eyes widened beneath his mask as he heard a few muffled screams through the communicator and then silence. When the silence was broken, it was by a voice that Spider-Man didn't think he would hear again.

"Where is little spider?" came Shathra's voice, "Shathra hears little spider's in box, but little spider is not there."

"Who is that?" Venom questioned with some confusion, "and what is with this 'little spider' line?"

"A monster from the Astral Plane," Spider-Man grumbled, "and it's her pet name for me… which creeps me out as she has no sexual interest in me whatsoever… although, I don't want her to, so…"

"Quit babbling," Venom grumbled and then smirked, "little spider."

Spider-Man only grumbled.

**Avengers Tower, New York**

The past few days had continued excitement that both Mary Jane and Aunt May followed through the news. Occasionally Jarvis joined them, but the events seemed to keep him busy as well. That left Mary Jane to do one of a few things. Worry about where and what Peter was enduring with Venom. Worry about what secret plot Osborn might have. Or vent her anger at Director Hill for being willing so send her out as Arachne despite being six months pregnant.

For the moment, her thoughts were on Peter. She heard that the S.H.I.E.L.D. craft piloting him was on its way to South Africa from South America, but the agents responsible for running her training simulations wouldn't tell her if he'd made it to South Africa yet. She wanted to be with him, to help, to keep him safe, but until she gave birth, that was out of the question.

"I'm sure he's fine, dear," Aunt May spoke from behind her.

Mary Jane looked up to see the elderly woman walking behind the couch with a cup of tea in her hands.

"How can you be so sure?" Mary Jane asked, "they have him out fighting evil ninjas with a homicidal maniac while they're letting an even bigger homicidal maniac run national policy here."

May looked down at her pregnant niece-in-law seriously.

"I'm not," Aunt May answered honestly, "but I know that being nervous won't help. I must be confident that Peter has the experience to power through the troubles he's facing, just as I must be confident that you will power through yours."

Mary Jane only sighed and looked back toward the television with a heavy sigh. She felt confident that she could deal with the problems that the Registration Act posed for her and her unborn children, but her pregnancy didn't help her deal with problems with Peter having to deal with Venom or the Scriers all that much.

"I'm sorry," Mary Jane sighed, "I must be driving you nuts with all the stuff I've been putting you through."

"You're fine Mary Jane," Aunt May spoke, "the things that Hill is doing are driving me just as crazy as they're driving you. What she's doing is wrong, but outside writing our Senators and Representatives, there is nothing we can do. The Registration Act seems to have been written in a fairly airtight manner."

As Aunt May finished, the news station appeared to com on with a fairly urgent news alert.

"The current 'Civil War' between America's heroes has continued get hotter as S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Maria Hill has sent her team of Thunderbolts against the rebel Captain America," the reporter announced, making both Mary Jane and Aunt May look at the television intently.

The two woman watched closely as the reporter shuffled the papers in front of him.

"In what Maria Hill has already called a terrorist attack by Captain America, the villain known as the Green Goblin was captured in the UN building by Captain America and members of his resistance," the reporter announced, "reports from the UN are at present sketchy, but initial reports indicate that the UN is not pleased with the way Maria Hill has been running S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Hopefully they sack her," Mary Jane spoke to no one in particular as the report finished, while Aunt May could only nod.

**Cape Town, South Africa**

Spider-Man was totally shocked by what he saw when he and Venom emerged from the tunnels that lead to the abandoned Scrier base. The S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft was still there, but standing on the engine pods were a three Scriers, who looked like they were observing what was about to happen, while standing on top of the craft's canopy was the figure of Shathra. The spider-wasp from the Astral Plane glared down at Spider-Man and Venom.

"So, little spider has bigger spider to help him this time," Shathra spoke for a moment and then paused, "and little spider is stronger… interesting, but Shathra is still superior to little spider."

"How did you get here?" Spider-Man questioned, "the last time I saw you, you were being eaten by a ton of spiders inside a temple."

"That is where we come in," one of the Scriers smiled, "since those spiders you mention didn't destroy Shathra's body, reanimating her was easy."

"And now, Shathra will finish what Shathra started," Shathra spoke in a calm voice and lunged down toward Spider-Man, ignoring Venom.

"You get the wasp," Venom growled as he ignored Shathra, "the Scriers are ours!"

And with that, Venom leaped into the air toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft. He passed Shathra diving down while in the air. Shathra dove straight at Spider-Man with the intention of grabbing him and then stinging him multiple times in rapid succession at close range. Spider-Man, had plenty of room for the moment to avoid the attack and leaped back down the tunnel.

"Little spider still runs?" Shathra taunted as she pursued Spider-Man into the tunnel, "Little spider is still weak."

Her pursuit suddenly ended when she saw at the last moment a wide net of webbing crisscrossing the tunnel in front of her. She ended up flying straight into the web and becoming tangled in it. This allowed Spider-Man to bounce along the walls of the tunnel and lay a power blow on Shathra, knocking her to the ground.

"A general rule of thumb, Shathra," Spider-Man spoke, "wasps do not attack spiders in areas where their wings are of little use. You can't fly above my webs in here, while I can bounce around to avoid your stingers."

Shathra answered him with a barrage of stingers, which Spider-Man dodged by leaping at the spider-wasp and landing a kick to her stomach. The blow, however, knocked Shathra free of his webs, and before Spider-Man could get away, she grabbed him by an ankle and slammed him to ground in front of her.

"Little spider is not very smart," Shathra responded, "still."

Spider-Man groaned. She still talked like she was playing with him, like he was only a plaything to her. He had the advantage in this tight space, but she still talked as though the battle was already decided.

"Will you fight, little spider? Fight until Shathra kills you?" Shathra questioned.

"I'll fight until you're beaten," Spider-Man growled as he got up again to face her.

Shathra lunged forward, and again Spider-Man dodged. He leaped up and gabbed hold of her arms and flipped over her, throwing her into the top of the tunnel as he did so. Once on the ground again, Spider-Man turned to web Shathra to the top of the tunnel, but found that Shathra had moved in that time.

Bending backwards at an angle that would have paralyzed a human, Shathra had righted herself while Spider-Man was descending to the ground and dove at Spider-Man. She hit him just as he turned and drove him to the ground of the tunnel. Pinning him with her knees, Shathra then placed one hand on Spider-Man's neck.

"Now, Shathra will kill little spider," Shathra spoke confidently.

Shathra's plan to end the battle ended a new strand of webbing came out of the darkness and caught her arm. She found herself then pulled violently into Venom's grasp.

"If anyone kills the 'little spider'," Venom growled, "it will be US!"

"Big spider!" Shathra yelled.

"Yes," Venom smiled as he tightened his grip, "big spider."

Shathra responded by kneeing Venom in the chin to get him to release his grip. While it made Venom grunt in pain, it was unsuccessful. Shathra then followed it up with a kick that finally broke her free of Venom's grasp, only to be caught by Spider-Man and slammed into the bottom of the tunnel.

"Will you give up now?" Spider-Man questioned, "given that you're beaten? Outnumbered?"

"Shathra is not beaten," Shathra growled, losing some of her confidence as she fired a barrage of stingers, making Spider-Man and Venom jump back a bit.

That distraction allowed Shathra to break the webs that held her and begin to move down the tunnel toward the abandoned Scrier base.

"Shathra has a new plan, which will kill both spiders," Shathra spoke regaining her confidence.

"And the chase is on," Venom gave a toothy smile and rushed after the seemingly fleeing Shathra.

Spider-Man did follow, but felt a bit more wary. Shathra's voice lost some of its confidence when Venom appeared, but as she left, nearly all her confidence had returned. If she had managed to manipulate a new plan that quickly, something had to be up. Either she was desperate and was looking for a way out, or the initial attack was only the Scrier's plan, and they were now going into Shathra's plan.

Shathra had nearly killed him before, and was only through Ezekiel's help that he even survived. Despite being stronger now and having Venom of all people as an ally, Spider-Man was not about to rush in blindly.

She lead them back into the entrance area of the abandoned base. Venom lead the way, only to be hit in the head by a cinderblock that Shathra had grabbed and ripped out. That slowed both of them enough for Shathra to face the two of her opponents.

"Big spider and little spider outnumber Shathra, yes," Shathra admitted, "but Shathra has a surprise…"

Almost as if on cue, two large glowing circles appeared on the walls next to Shathra. What followed was a small location as two black creatures looking almost identical to Shathra emerged from them.

"Two of Shathra's children survived to adulthood," Shathra spoke, "now they and Shathra kill for their children… and both big spider and little spider will be fine food!"

Shathra and her two children then lunged forward. The children focused almost entirely on Spider-Man while Shathra dove at Venom. Spider-Man dove down the hallway he had initially searched through. The two smaller versions of Shathra likely weren't as strong as their mother, but were likely a force to be reckoned with while together.

"Little spider is strong," the first Shathra offspring spoke.

"Will feed us well… even if late," the second added.

"Us?" Spider-Man asked, as he twisted between them to avoid their first diving attack.

"Mother has not named us yet," the first responded.

Spider-Man hit both in the face with web balls making them wrestle with the webbing as it blinded them. He then leaped over his attackers to continue down the hallway.

"Sounds to me like you should push for more family bonding and less on attacking me," Spider-Man quipped.

Both roared in anger and ripped the webbing off and flew after Spider-Man. He managed to web the first up in his webbing completely, but the second caught him and drove him through a closed door in the hallway. Spider-Man quickly shook it off, but quickly found that Shathra's offspring, despite their size, were nearly as strong as their mother. His only remaining option was to channel his 'inner spider' as Ezekiel had claimed. He wasn't quite sure on all of that, but his normal bag of tricks wasn't really working at it was his only option left.

"Little spider is trapped now," the second spoke confidently, "we will feed now!"

The second then lunged forward, arms ready to shoot out stingers. Spider-Man waited almost patiently for the attack to come. When the second came within range, he intended to catch it in webbing and knock it into the wall, hopefully knocking it out. When he swung his arm up to do so, however, something else happened. The stinger or fang or something that he had gained as a result of his 'Other' ordeal came out of the underside of his forearm and impaled the second Shathra offspring in the chest.

The second screamed in pain as Spider-Man's 'stinger' sank all the way in, and the arachnid themed hero instinctively then swung the second Shathra child through the air and webbed it to the wall. By that time, the first Shathra offspring had returned.

"No! Little spider killed sister!" the first screamed.

"And thought you said were invincible compared to me," Spider-Man shot back.

The first Shathra offspring screamed with rage and fired several stingers at long range toward Spider-Man. Spider-Man managed to dodge the attack and then encased himself inside a large web that wrapped around him and covered a large area in the room, like a cocoon. He hoped that when the Shathra child rushed it, it would become tangled in the webbing and he could then rush it and secure it for capture.

The first Shathra offspring did exactly as Spider-Man hoped. It rushed into the maze of webs that he had spun, and quickly became trapped in the webs. Feeling the vibrations in them, Spider-Man man quickly traced toward the source. The Shathra offspring was struggling fiercely, firing stingers into the webs, as if hopping they would free it.

"You're caught," Spider-Man spoke firmly, noticing that his stingers had not retracted, "Surrender."

He threw more webs on the Shathra offspring to emphasize his point. The creature only struggled and slashed against the webbing until it managed to free one arm. But when it freed the arm, it flew up and into Spider-Man's still extended stinger. That made the first Shathra offspring scream with pain and made Spider-Man gasp behind his mask.

"NO!" Spider-Man shouted in shock and horror as the Shathra offspring began to shake violently, before finally going limp after an hour of thrashing about in the web.

The first Shathra offspring was now dead, along with its sister, and Spider-Man's stinger's finally retracted. Sitting in the web, Spider-Man felt sick.

Venom and Shathra, meanwhile faced each other in the entrance area. Neither moved at first. Both felt fairly confident about their chances.

"Now that little spider is away, big spider will fall to Shathra," Shathra spoke confidently, "will be a good warm up for Shathra."

"We will be more then a warm up," Venom smiled, "we will kill you!"

Venom then lunged forward, extending the claws on his fingers, hoping to impale Shathra on them. Shathra hovered up above the lengthening claws and then dove down to land a strong blow to Venom's back as he lunged forward below her.

"Big spider is strong, but not smart," Shathra taunted, "Shathra will easily dodge big spider and strike at weak point."

Venom inwardly chuckled. Shathra couldn't know the symbiote's weaknesses and was regarding him as if he was Spider-Man. If Shathra was going to engage in this sort of fight, Venom was all too happy to oblige.

"We are more then a 'big spider', we are Venom," Venom answered as he retracted the symbiote to make himself look like Eddie Brock.

When he turned, Shathra was looking at him puzzled.

"What has man done with big spider?" Shathra asked temporarily losing contact with the large black spider that had just been there.

"Our other has only retracted to give you some clue as to who we are," Brock answered with a smirk, "something that your mindset knows nothing of. This is our real body. The body of the human Edward Brock…"

Shathra moved forward, preparing to attack, but as she got close, Brock recoated himself in the symbiote and as Venom grabbed hold of Shathra's arm.

"This is our other, the symbiote, Venom," Venom gave a toothy smile, "We ARE VENOM!"

Shathra twisted in Venom's grasp, trying to free her arm. In doing so, one of her wings slapped Venom in the face. Venom responded by sinking his fangs into it.

"IIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Shathra screamed in pain as Venom then through her down the central hallway.

She looked over her shoulder to see that a large chunk of one of her wings was now missing, and then looked up to see Venom swallow the piece he had bitten.

"Tasty," Venom smirked, "You call yourself a hunter of spiders, but we think it is questionable that you are the hunter here… perhaps we will have do more to see who is hunting who. Eh?"

Shathra then backed away. Her senses had finally picked up on the differences between the big spider and the little spider. The big spider was far more powerful then she was and was actually made up of two different beings. She wasn't prepared for this and felt real fear for the first time. She took out several lights with stingers, hoping to gain some advantage over Venom, who announced the battle like some sort of nature adventure show.

"The prey walks into the darkness, unaware of the danger lurking there," Venom announced as he walked along the ground below Shathra.

Shathra responded by firing several stingers in Venom's back, hoping her venom would have some affect on the symbiote wearing villain. Venom continued his narration.

"The attack is made, a lethal blow is delivered," Venom continued, "the predator watches as its venom takes effect… what… will… we… -gasp- …do?"

Venom then turned rapidly and grabbed Shathra by the shoulders and held her against the ceiling she was crouching on.

"Perhaps inform the predator, that our other began repairing all the damage she inflicted the instant it was inflicted," Venom growled confidently, "that we could eat poison for breakfast… and that like another fool who relies too much on poisons… that you are outmatched when you face us! You never stood a chance! And we will crush you like the bug you are!"

Venom then began to slowly tighten his grip and shrinking his hand back towards its normal size, putting incredible pressure on Shathra. Shathra struggled, mostly out of fear, but failed, and soon the pain was too much. Venom only gave a sick smile as Shathra's chest and ribs collapsed under the force of his strength. He then threw Shathra's body to the ground and began to walk out.

He found Spider-Man slowly walking out, although he had removed his mask and didn't look well.

"Where is Shathra?" Peter asked slowly.

"Dead," Venom smiled, "where are her kids?"

"Also dead," Peter answered looking worse.

"And why does that make you look bad?" Venom questioned, "we won."

"But did we do the right thing?" Peter responded firmly, "I am a superhero, Brock. Not a villain… not a anti-hero… or whatever you see yourself as. I do not kill. It is something that shouldn't do…"

"You fear it?" Venom snickered.

"Not for myself," Peter answered, sensing that he was trying to exploit some weakness, "but I'm a good guy. Killing someone isn't justice, it isn't heroic. It simply ends a life that could be put to a better purpose."

"There are some cases where killing the opponent is the only option," Venom commented, "Look at wars… and in your own arena, look at your battles with Norman Osborn. Killing him might be your only real shot at peace… if not, the Green Goblin will always come back to try and kill you…"

"Wars are another senseless thing, to me," Peter sighed, "Sometimes they are necessary, but often, they serve no purpose but gaining power and solve no problems, and even create new ones… and as for Osborn… maybe you're right that if he dies the Green Goblin wouldn't be a threat, but then the question is, is it morally the right thing to do. To just kill someone for that reason… and my answer to that is no."

Peter sighed heavily.

"Killing someone for whatever reason is a line of morality that I've crossed," Peter sighed, "there had to have been something I could have done that would have used non-lethal force… and I failed to take that option. Instead I ended up killing to beings that had only just become adults… beings that could have had a shot at some form of redemption… even if they wouldn't have taken it."

"Then I guess that is where we differ," Venom answered, "if there is a force that does evil and threatens the innocent, I see no problem in dealing with threat permanently. They threatened us, they fought, they lost."

Peter watched as Venom then departed for the tunnel and the S.H.I.E.L.D. craft outside the tunnel. He then sighed again. He and Venom were different. Venom was quite willing to cross that line, and the fact that he had crossed that line made him sick. What was worse, was that the fight was nowhere near over. The Scriers were still out there, and likely cause more trouble.

**To Be Continued…**


	10. Revelations to Family Members

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee, and owned by the Walt Disney Corporation (Disney bought Marvel). No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 10: Revelations to Family Members**

**Alexandria, Egypt**

"You know, its tough getting a hold of you," Tony spoke on a communications screen inside the craft that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were using to fly Peter and Venom around the world, "I've been trying to even get in contact with the agents with you, and have largely been blown off."

"Well, it's not like they're gentlemen," Peter commented as he sat in the hovercraft's cockpit, "we're currently at the S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Egypt while they go to get something that Venom can eat."

"Doesn't that thing feed on Brock's cancer?" Tony asked, remembering a few updates Peter had given him when he had joined the Avengers.

"Doesn't mean he can't digest anything else," Peter shrugged, "so they've gone in to requisition new stocks of food to carry with it."

"And they left you behind?" Tony asked.

"Maybe they don't trust me with their equipment in the base," Peter shrugged again, "What brings you a calling? Usually its Hill out to berate me for not being a good soldier or 'whining' about my wife."

"That is why I've called… or have been trying to for the past week," Tony spoke, "Hill's management of the current 'civil war' got her sacked as S.H.I.E.L.D.'s director."

If Peter had been drinking anything he would have spit it out.

"Hill's gone?" Peter asked, finding himself feeling rather hopeful that the super hero community would begin to calm down.

Tony nodded, "The UN has named me her successor."

"You?" Peter asked.

Tony nodded, making Peter chuckle.

"I suppose I have to call you 'boss' now, huh?" Peter quipped.

"Only if you want to," Tony answered, "I'm also calling to let you know that you can come home."

Peter sighed heavily. He did want to go home, but with the Scriers not defeated once and for all, there was still plenty for him to do.

"I'd love to, but the agents with us are hardliners for Hill," Peter spoke, "You'd need to be hear with the UN charter and repulsers charged and literally force them to turn around… and even if you did, we still have the Scriers to consider. We've done such damage to them that they'll likely come back in force if we don't stop them now. I have to endure this… although you may want to track the craft. Once their beaten, I'm not sure if I can stop Venom from deciding to kill me."

Tony then sighed heavily, "alright then, if you know what your doing."

"To be honest, I don't," Peter sighed, "they aren't letting me figure anything out, so I can't come up with any sort of plan other then to charge in expecting a fight. I'm telling, if Cap gets the Registration Act taken out, I don't want to be anywhere NEAR S.H.I.E.L.D. ever again."

Tony nodded. He looked a little disappointed, but he in a sense, he could understand. A lot of things had not gone well.

"How goes the hunt for the Scriers?" Tony asked.

"Okay, I guess," Peter sighed, "they've been evacuating their bases, likely to make sure we have to fight a whole bunch of ninjas at their citadel, but who knows… maybe the civil war will end and you guys will come back me up."

Tony sighed again.

"That's possible, but not likely," Tony sighed, "the UN removed Hill as director, but she's still an agent, and it does nothing to challenge the Registration Act itself. And the President is 'circling the wagons' so to speak. I'm afraid it may be quite awhile before Cap can get the act removed or I can amend it."

"How are things on the Skull front?" Peter asked.

"Quiet," Tony answered, "he hasn't done anything since his scuffle with Cap in Washington."

"That's good I guess," Peter sighed, knowing that his fight with the Scriers was only a sideshow to the everything else going on.

He was quiet for a few moments and then came to a question that was nearly constantly in his mind.

"How is MJ?" Peter asked, sounding almost urgent.

"Quite well, physically anyway, and clearly pregnant," Tony answered, "the only 'problem' she has, has been the Registration Act and the fact that it's kept you away."

Peter then found himself looking extremely guilty. He didn't like having to do this to his wife in her present state, but neither did he know how to escape it.

"You'll tell her that I love her?" Peter asked, hoping Tony would do him that one favor.

"I can," Tony nodded, knowing that some people needed that sort of thing to be happy. And in the short time that Peter had been an Avenger and living with the Avengers in Avengers Tower, Tony had learned that they were two people who needed each other.

It was then that Peter noticed Brock and the two agents returning. They were carrying a mountain of supplies, but neither agent looked happy.

"Gotta go, 'boss', the slave drivers are here," Peter said quickly and terminated the connection.

"You weren't playing with OUR equipment, were you?" the first agent questioned as he came closer.

"Playing? Me?" Peter quipped, "Perish the thought. I was talking with Director Stark."

"Director HILL, you mean," the second agent corrected, "Tony Stark is a weakling in an metal suit…"

"He's also replaced Hill as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.," Peter informed them.

"Which will last only until the next terrorist attack on American soil," the first agent growled, "and then America will sack Stark for his cowardice and put Hill back."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. is a UN organization," Brock commented, "not an agency of the US government."

Both agents looked back to the symbiote wearing villain with rather dumbfounded looks. Like many of the agents that Hill had brought into S.H.I.E.L.D. they believed and were taught that the organization answered only to the US government. Brock, meanwhile stood his ground. He didn't like Peter, but neither did he really like these agents. If he could find a way to beat both, he'd take it.

"Regardless, Hill's orders to us can not be countermanded," both agents agreed, "the Scriers will be defeated, and that is final."

Peter sighed as the agents resumed their seats in the cockpit and he went back to sit beside Brock. He hoped that things in New York were going better.

**JFK Airport, NYC**

Mary Jane, meanwhile was waiting for a very different arrival then the agents her husband was waiting for. Stark's taking over of S.H.I.E.L.D. came as very good news to her. Hill was overbearing and in the red head's opinion tyrannical. Of course the Registration Act was still in play, but the denouncing of super heroes was not as common, making MJ hope that the whole issue would be solved soon.

That, however, was not why she was waiting patiently at a gate at the airport. Her Aunt had promised to come up for the birth of the twins she was carrying, and a day after Hill was demoted, MJ received a call from her Aunt that she would be arriving today. So, Mary Jane was patiently for the woman she considered to almost be a second mother.

Her feelings were somewhat conflicted, though. She was happy to see Aunt Anna again, and was overjoyed to have her help with her pregnancy. But she was still nervous about telling her Aunt about Peter being Spider-Man and herself being Arachne. Mostly because she didn't think that Anna liked all the costumed heroes that much. But then, she could be wrong… and at present her happy feelings overpowered her nervous ones.

After a few moments, Mary Jane saw the passengers from Aunt Anna's plane beginning to disembark, and she stood up, eagerly waiting to see her Aunt again. A moment later, a very familiar face came out into the waiting area.

"Aunt Anna!" Mary Jane exclaimed happily and moved as fast as she could at twenty six weeks to hug the older woman.

The older Watson smiled and moved to hug her niece. She liked living in Florida, but there were moments where she wished she could be with the rest of her family. If only New York wasn't such an expensive city to live in. She was then surprised when her pregnant niece grasped her in a hug and easily lifted her slightly into the air.

"It's so good to see you!" Mary Jane smiled, happy to see her Aunt again.

"Yes," Anna Watson answered, "Please put me down before you hurt me or your unborn children."

"Sorry," Mary Jane said sheepishly, "it's just that I'm very glad you've come."

"I wouldn't miss this for the world," Aunt Anna told her niece, "having a family is a precious thing that makes any parent proud."

Aunt Anna then paused to look Mary Jane over and placed one hand on her enlarging womb.

"And look you," Aunt Anna then smiled.

"There are twins in there," Mary Jane smiled back, "let's go get your bags. You can let me know how things are going in Florida."

"Nothing much has gone on in Florida," Anna gave a slight shrug as they began walking to the baggage claim, "not like what I've been seeing on the news lately."

That made Mary Jane sigh, much of what was going on in the news would have to be explained when she explained her husband's and her new lifestyle. Mary Jane really hoped her Aunt could handle it. She hadn't been there when Aunt May found out about Peter's secret identity, so she couldn't really do anything but guess at what her own Aunt would do with Peter and May's explanations of how they got through that great hurdle.

"It must be nice down there," Mary Jane commented.

"It's warmer down there," Anna told her niece, "which is better for my old bones then New York is in the winter… although there are the snakes and gators to worry about down there. I neighbor of mine had to call the cops to get rid of a cottonmouth that had slithered into his garage."

"At least it wasn't the Lizard," Mary Jane found herself joking.

"Who dear?" Anna asked curiously.

"The Lizard," Mary Jane began to explain, realizing she'd been caught, "one of Spider-Man's foes. I think Peter might have a few copies of some pics he took of one of their fights."

Anna sighed and shook her head. The various costumed adventurers were one of her reasons for relocating to Florida. It wasn't so much the fact that they were there, but that their battles with super villains did a lot of damage which took a lot of time to repair. And they also disrupted the normal people's lives. Anna felt she was too old to put up with that sort of lifestyle. Occasionally a hero or villain popped up in Florida, but that was rare.

"Another reason I prefer Florida dear," Aunt Anna then told her niece, "it is much calmer down there."

Mary Jane only gave her a Aunt a nervous glance as she looked over at her Aunt.

**Australia**

The Inland Taipan is one of the world's deadliest snakes. It carries within its venom glands poison that can easily kill a human being. They availed the snake nothing against the fifteen foot three inch monster that had cornered it as it blasted the reptile with fire, incinerating it. Dragon Man then settled to eat his meal… already cooked. He enjoyed the empty territory of the Australian outback. There were few people there, which allowed him the freedom to be himself and not worry about villains seeking to manipulate him or government soldiers trying to kill him out of fear. He could hunt, run, fly… pretty much do what he wanted without being bothered.

As he feasted on the snake that he had roasted, he noticed something moving about a hundred yards away from him. It wasn't an animal, as the whole ground seemed to be moving. And this peeked his curiosity. Now, most animals would likely flee at this as the movement was unexpected and could represent danger. But Dragon Man was not 'most animals'. Whatever was causing this movement, he felt confident that it posed little, if any, threat to him. So he began to approach what he saw, and he looked very curious.

Emerging from an underground bunker were ten Scriers. Each of them held various scrolls, weapons, disks, and other information about their organization. They were all surprised to see Dragon Man approaching the now open door to their base.

"A monster!" the second Scrier in the group gasped, "an abomination!"

"I believe he is in jail," the fifth Scrier corrected, "this is someone else… a pawn of Diablo's, I think."

"Defend the base!" the first Scrier ordered, "it will take me time to get the teleportation spell ready… and all must be accurately done, or there will be a disaster."

The other nine Scriers dropped everything that couldn't be used as a weapon and launched themselves at Dragon Man, presuming the creature was attacking them. The attacks did little to actually harm the massive creature, but they did drive him back, and their swords did nick his skin… although they were more like paper cuts to Dragon Man.

The attack however, did serve to enrage Dragon Man. His approach of the Scriers was out of curiosity, nothing more, and they attacked him with deadly force… even if it wasn't all that threatening to him. Dragon Man responded by making one swipe at the Scriers rushing him. Most of them avoided his attack, but he did catch one, and sent it flying fifteen feet through the air. Dragon Man then growled his rage at the remaining Scriers.

"Drive him back!" the third Scrier urged as he leaped over Dragon Man, throwing several throwing stars at the spot between the creature's wings.

Dragon Man roared with pain and flared his wings, as the spot that was hit was slightly more sensitive then the rest of him, and thrashed his tail. The Scrier that had done the dead avoided serious injury while the others again launched themselves at the creature, using various weapons or minor spells. All of this served to further enrage the beast, and Dragon Man brought his fists down in one crushing blow, which dented the roof of the Scrier bunker that they were fighting on from the sheer force of the impact.

The Scrier leading the group struggled to get everything ready for the teleportation spell that was to take them to the main Scrier base, but the battle that had erupted between his comrades and Dragon Man was quickly becoming a distraction. Especially when the beast struck the roof of their hidden bunker. The Scrier was in a kneeling position when it happened and quite literally bounced into the air with the force of the blow.

"Drive him back!" the first Scrier ordered, "I can not do the spell with the battle raging this close!"

Two Scriers nodded and leaped at Dragon Man's head, hoping to land a kick that would make the creature stagger backwards, giving their leader the time to insure their escape. Dragon Man, however, turned to face them and blasted both Scriers with fire, sending them both tumbling back and screaming in pain. They ended up running in the other direction and rolling on the ground to put the flames out while the other Scriers rushed to try and get the massive creature to move away from the spot where it endangered their leader.

Their attacks frustrated Dragon Man. None of them dealt any life threatening wounds, but they moved fast enough that he couldn't easily use his vastly superior strength against them. Flying might work, but Dragon Man didn't have the mental capabilities to think that far in advance. The Scriers attacked him, so he responded, and their attacks weren't powerful enough to make him want to fly.

He did, however, wanted them to hold still, and sensing that the ground wasn't as solid where he was as it appeared, Dragon Man figured the drop might make the Scirers stay put so he could crush them. So, he raised his foot up and brought it down in a powerful stomp, making the bunker lid shake and dent inward.

Again it disoriented the Scriers, allowing Dragon Man to send one flying through air. And again the remaining conscious or uninjured Scriers, minus their leader resumed their attacks on Dragon Man, trying to drive him off. Again, they did little serious harm and only served to enrage the beast more. He responded by stomping again on the weakened bunker door, which finally gave way under Dragon Man's attacks on it. This ended up sending all of them crashing into the bunker below. Dragon Man tried to spread his wings, but found the bunker entrance to be narrower then his wingspan, and he fell in with the Scriers.

**New York, NY, USA**

"You're really fine with walking?" Aunt Anna asked as and Mary Jane began to walk back toward Avengers Tower from the airport.

"Yes, Aunt Anna, I'm fine," Mary Jane answered, "it's good exercise and my doctor thinks it's a good idea to stay active so long as I don't do anything stressful."

"So long as you think you can manage," Aunt Anna replied, not wanting her pregnant niece to overdo anything.

The two walked quietly for a little ways while Mary Jane struggled with how she was going to inform her Aunt about everything that had happened. They were walking because she figured that that would give her the time to explain about Peter being Spider-Man and herself being Arachne, and that her unborn twins would likely inherit at least some of their parent's powers. She was still unsure as to how to handle everything. After a few moments, she sighed and decided to go with the best idea she had at the moment.

"So, Aunt Anna," Mary Jane began nervously, "What have they been saying in Florida about the stuff in the news? The Registration Act and such?"

"You've been following all that?" Aunt Anna asked.

"Well, yes," Mary Jane nodded, "it affects people in New York the most with all the heroes here… and it affects Peter and I as well."

"Because of his job with the Bugle," Aunt Anna nodded, assuming that her niece was referring to her husband's work as photographer.

Mary Jane slowly nodded, "among other things."

That made the older Watson look down and think for a few moments. There wasn't anywhere near the superhero activity in Florida as there was in New York. Occasionally someone showed up in Miami or Tampa Bay, or hidden in the Everglades, but she had never seen anyone in the community that she had moved to. As such, she didn't really think it was her place to put her nose into the problem.

"I'm not sure it's really my place to enter into the debate," Aunt Anna sighed, "There aren't many, if any, superhuman activities in Florida. I don't think I'm that knowledgeable. I think it's a good idea that new heroes do get trained and are looked after, I guess, to at least insure what they're doing isn't vigilantism, as Mr. Stark has said on the news, but there is a lot that I simply find to be confusing."

"Do you think Captain America has gone to the 'dark side' so to speak?" Mary Jane asked curiously.

"Captain America?" Aunt Anna responded, "Oh for heavens sake no. I don't know why he's rebelling against the act, but I'm certain it isn't because he is some traitor. He was a hero to everyone in May's generation and mine. It has to be something related to the Red Skull. Every history book has said that the two fought against each other like polar opposites. I highly doubt he'd back a government that supports his archenemy."

"A lot of people see it that way," Mary Jane nodded, "the problem is that so many don't."

Aunt Anna nodded, as it was the disagreement over the Registration Act that was causing the most problems. But, to her knowledge the Act didn't affect her or her family.

"I'm sure it has to be rough for them right now, but there is nothing we can really do," Aunt Anna spoke, "it isn't like the act directly affects us."

"Well…" Mary Jane was about to begin her spider-sense blared at full strength inside her head.

She stepped aside just as a man rushed between them, grabbed hold of Anna's purse an carry-on bag and produced a revolver.

"Give it to me!" the mugger growled, "give it to me, or you won't be having any grandchildren!"

Mary Jane glared back as the mugger waved the gun between the two women.

"Back off an you won't get hurt," Mary Jane threatened.

"Mary Jane, let him have it," Aunt Anna urged, "Don't risk your babies."

Aunt Anna let go of her own items and the mugger turned his attention slowly to Mary Jane and aimed his weapon at her.

"Now, your money, if you please," the mugger growled.

"No," Mary Jane clinched her fists defiantly.

"Mary Jane!" Aunt Anna gasped, fearful of losing her niece and her grandnephews or nieces, or a mixture of both.

"You should listen to your mother, lady," the mugger growled as he reached for the bag on Mary Jane's arm.

What followed was far too fast for Aunt Anna to fully follow, and certainly too fast for the mugger to expect. Mary Jane reached out and crushed the revolver in her hand before he could even fire the weapon. The mugger tried to punch her niece in her womb, doing the most potential damage to a pregnant woman. Before his fist covered even half the expected distance, Mary Jane caught it with her other hand and squeezed.

"Bad move," Mary Jane spoke firmly and pushed the mugger backward with her arms, knocking him backward and making him knocking him backward.

The mugger ended up falling backward and landing hard on the ground, dropping what he had already stolen from Aunt Anna. Anna then watched as her niece kept her hands pointed toward the now attempted mugger as she then heard a 'thwip' noise come from her wrists and watched as streams of some silk-like material shoot out and wrap around the mugger, and immobilizing him completely. He struggled against it, but to no avail. Anna found herself looking on dumbfounded as her pregnant niece turned to look at her with an embarrassed ad shocked look on her face as she stood over an immobilized mugger… a mugger that SHE had immobilized herself.

"Mary Jane?" Aunt Anna gasped.

"Surprise?" Mary Jane said weakly.

**S.H.I.E.L.D. Hovercraft**

Peter was jostled out of a rather uneasy sleep by a large firm hand shaking his shoulder. He rolled over to see that it was Brock trying to wake up. Jumping out of instinct, he was soon on the wall of the hovercraft seeking some way to put distance between him and Brock.

"Relax, Parker," Brock ordered, "If we wanted to kill you, we WOULD have. The S.H.I.E.L.D. guys got something on their 'radar' and want to lecture you."

Peter groaned, thinking he should have let Brock kill him. He then slowly made his way up to the cockpit where the two agents were monitoring something on one of their screens.

"Hey look, the 'responsible' one's FINALLY woken up," the first agent sneered.

"Let's see if he can PAY ATTENTION first," the second one taunted back.

"Very funny," Peter grumbled, "What is it?"

"We're coming up on Australia," the first agent spoke, "and we've received some reports from our spy satellites about something going on near a Scrier run bunker in the middle of the outback."

"They have a base in the outback?" Peter asked, "it's a desert. Hardly anyone lives there."

"It's probably a control bunker that the smaller bases report to in Australia," the second agent shrugged, "but the thing is we're getting reports about some sort of battle going on there."

"A battle?" Peter asked, "as in the Scriers are fighting someone other then me?"

"That's what our satellites caught," the first agent answered, "Looked like some giant grey skinned dragon… wearing shorts or had purple skin that looks like shorts."

"That's all you have?" Peter asked.

"From the satellites, yes," the first agent answered, "getting more would require contacting the coward, Tony Stark, and having him give us a connection to the satellite's cameras… which would risk the mission Director Hill gave us to destroy these Scriers."

"You're wrong about Tony being a coward," Peter told them.

"Then why hasn't he apprehended Rogers for his treason?" the second agent demanded, "everything that has gone on is a result of Stark not putting on his big boy armor and showing the country what a traitor Rogers is."

"Probably because if he did that, New York would be quite literally destroyed," Peter commented, "You all deride me for what happens in my battles with super villains, what do you think is going to happen if Cap and Iron Man went at each other? Iron Man has the tech, but Cap has that shield and military training and the experience of fighting in World War II, largely against the same guy Hill and the President are now allied with."

"Director Hill is not allied with the Red Skull," the first agent countered, "and neither really is the President. We're just biding time until all the terrorists are gone."

"Then what will you do?" Peter questioned.

"Keep an eye out, as by then, hopefully Rogers and his traitors will be behind bars, or better yet, dead, and America's superheroes will firmly be under the control of the State and Stark will be out and Hill will be back in," the second agent answered, "which will mean that if the Red Skull is lying, he won't be able to defeat the heroes rallied against him."

"We likely would have rallied to fight the Red Skull if Hill and the government didn't decide to listen to his lies," Peter retorted, "but then, you all know the Nazis better then anyone, so I guess we should trust a man waving a swastika everywhere."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents growled something, but Peter wasn't able to hear it.

"We called you up here so that you could identify whoever, or whatever is attacking the Scriers in Australia," the second agent finally spoke.

"I can't really say from your limited description," Peter answered, "I've heard of a guy called 'Gargoyle', I've heard of supposed dragons, but from what you've given, it'd be impossible to even guess at who is doing this."

"What good are you anyway," the first agent grumbled, "Go get ready, we're coming up on the site of the battle.

Peter sighed and went back into the main passenger area where Brock had the symbiote cover his head and face, giving him Venom's toothy grin… even if he wasn't actually grinning.

"So, who are we fighting?" Venom asked.

"Supposedly a dragon of some sort," Peter grumbled as he pulled on his mask, "that's all the information they have. They could get more, but that would require patching into the rest of the S.H.I.E.L.D. network, which would put them back in touch with Stark, who they hope will fail and Hill is put back in charge."

"Seems like they're too distracted by their own politics," Venom grumbled.

**New York**

"So let me get this straight," Aunt Anna spoke as she and her niece nervously walked toward Avengers Tower, although Anna still didn't know that was where they were headed, "Peter actually IS Spider-Man… he really is."

"Yes," Mary Jane nodded, "It's why his comings and goings have been rather strange."

"And you knew this before you married him," Aunt Anna spoke.

"I saw Spider-Man go out of Peter's room to go after the man that killed his Uncle," Mary Jane explained, "it's partially what attracted me to him at first."

"And now you've become this new heroine, Arachne," Aunt Anna spoke, waiting for Mary Jane to nod, "and you never had the heart to tell me what was going on? Not even once? What do you suppose this sort of information would do to his own Aunt?!"

"Peter has always had the concern that if too many knew of his identity, they would become targets for his various villains," Mary Jane sighed, looking and sounding very embarrassed, "many of his foes have very personal grudges and several of them have been smart enough be able to learn his identity and then go after those close to him."

"And you both think I would go out and tell just anyone?" Aunt Anna demanded.

"No… it's been more of a thing to try and prevent you, me, or Aunt May from becoming targets if a villain found out," Mary Jane sighed, "It was never really intended to try and hide it from anyone that was good. He simply decided that letting his identity float around in the open would be dangerous…"

"So these villains have scared him and you into not trusting your own family?" Aunt Anna asked, sounding almost betrayed.

"I tried telling you once before," Mary Jane pointed out, "You thought I was being silly deliberately to try and demonstrate how silly you had been over Peter's activities, which truly were Spider-Man related."

Anna sighed heavily, "Still, it's not like I'm going to go out and try to get my niece and nephew-in-law killed."

"I know you wouldn't want to see us killed… but, that's something that goes along with the job," Mary Jane tried to explain, and feared she was failing, "I waited night after night for Peter to come home from battles against people stronger then he is or with a wide range of powers that he can't easily counter… and I'd worry that he never would come home… it's partially why I ended up deciding to be Arachne. I couldn't take being on the sidelines worrying anymore. I either needed to cut ties with Peter all together or join him… and I love him too much to leave him. I love him more then life itself."

"And you didn't want me to worry?" Aunt Anna asked after a few moments.

Mary Jane nodded, "Peter and I agreed on it that we'd try to keep it secret to keep other people from worrying."

"So other then that you've shown off your powers, why are you telling me this now?" Aunt Anna asked, still sounding uneasy, but was trying to get past the shock of learning her niece and her husband had superpowers.

"Mostly because of the Registration Act," Mary Jane sighed, "Peter's first instinct I think would have been to go underground when all of this started, but with my pregnancy… I can't do that. Not without risking my twins. So we registered so I could keep seeing my doctor."

Aunt Anna slowly nodded, remembering how utterly devastated her niece had been when her first child had been stillborn. The elderly Watson hoped that MJ's current pregnancy would not have a repeat of the problems of her first pregnancy, spider-powers notwithstanding.

"So where is Peter now?" Aunt Anna asked.

"Maria Hill, the old S.H.I.E.L.D. director sent him after a group that's been giving us trouble of late called the Brotherhood of Scriers," Mary Jane answered, "Tony Stark, the newest S.H.I.E.L.D. director's been trying to tell him that Hill's been demoted and her orders are no longer valid, but hasn't been able to make contact, as far as I know."

"I thought Nick Fury was the old S.H.I.E.L.D. director?" Anna asked, remembering Hill's appearance before the UN on the news, and the later announcement that she had been removed as director.

"I think he was the original director, but I'm not sure," Mary Jane replied, "I'm still learning, and neither Peter nor I are experts on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s history."

"And how has May dealt with all of this? She's always seemed so… so frail," Aunt Anna questioned, "this could kill her."

"She actually found out about Peter while were still separated and I was in California," Mary Jane explained, "He had fought some powerful new villain, and just barely won and was recuperating when May found him laying in bed in his costume, looking like he'd been pulverized."

"My word…" Anna gasped, "how did she respond to all this?"

"I think there was some shock and surprise, but from what I've heard, May is a lot stronger then a lot people have given her credit for," Mary Jane shrugged, "You'd have to ask her when we get to the Tower for how she dealt with Peter being Spider-Man."

"The Tower?" Anna asked.

"Avengers Tower," Mary Jane answered, "we've been living there since Peter joined the Avengers."

"So… are you an Avenger now too or…" Aunt Anna questioned.

"No," Mary Jane shook her head, "and until I give birth, I won't be going out as Arachne either."

Aunt Anna watched as Mary Jane nervously patted her womb and the unborn twins inside it. She didn't really approve of what was going on, as she didn't like the 'mess' that was going on touching her family, but she was at least thankful that she wasn't engaging in these sorts of things while she was pregnant.

**Australia**

Venom and Spider-Man disembarked from the S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft to find what looked like a small scale battle from one of the World Wars had raged in a rather empty portion of the Australian outback.

"Love what they've done with the place," Spider-Man quipped, "really gives it the desert look, don't you think?"

Venom only gave a low growl as they began to approach what looked like a bunker that had had its roof caved in. As they did so, they came across two Scriers laying on the ground and groaning in agony. The symbiote wearing villain was quick to recognize that they had burned.

"They're still alive," Spider-Man commented as he stopped to take the pulse of one of the Scriers.

"So?" Venom wondered, "wouldn't that make this easier for us?"

"Not when we do not know what or who the Scriers have run into," Spider-Man retorted, "They might be able to help us."

Venom only grumbled and let Spider-Man take his approach. Maybe it would annoy the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who wanted both of them to rush in and ask questions later.

"Who did this to you?" Spider-Man asked carefully, "What did his to you?"

"Drag… Dragon… Man… came… out o… of… no…wher…err…" the Scrier wheezed out in pain.

"Dragon Man?" Spider-Man asked as he looked down at the wounded Scrier and watched him nod, and then muttered, "well, this should be interesting."

"What are you muttering about?" Venom questioned.

"Well… most of this I heard from Johnny Storm, so don't call me an expert," Spider-Man responded, "but Dragon Man is some sort of dragon creature, about fifteen feet tall, three tons, can fly, and breathes fire."

"Sounds tough, we suppose," Venom answered, "maybe we can draw it out and let the hovercraft blast it."

"We shouldn't have to," Spider-Man shrugged, "Johnny's told me that Dragon Man isn't evil and that the tried to domesticate him like a dog… unfortunately, something that weighs three tons isn't exactly an urban pet. My best guess is that the Scriers here found him, and either their recruitment drive went bad, or they attacked him, and Dragon Man fought back out of instinct."

Spider-Man was quiet for a moment before he said, "hopefully, Dragon Man has either tired himself out, or got bored and left…"

That hope was dashed when a loud bang of something hitting a metal wall echoed up through the opened bunker hatch.

"Spoke too soon," Spider-Man grumbled and leaped into the bunker, with Venom following close behind.

They landed inside the bunker to find that it had been devastated by the fight between Dragon Man and the Scriers. They had actually landed on the damaged bunker roof, which had been caved in. There were three more unconscious Scriers laying there, apparently knocked out by a large blunt object.

"So how do you plan to defeat this dragon?" Venom questioned.

"Hopefully the Sciers built this bunker well enough that there is a spot that he can't get into and doesn't feel the urge to incinerate his opponents," Spider-Man shrugged, "We can then lure him back out into that main entry area… and hopefully we can put up a good enough fight that he'll decide it's better to simply go elsewhere."

"The agents won't like that," Venom snickered.

"Don't really care what they think," Spider-Man gave a frustrated growl as he began to walk towards a passageway that looked like something had torn its way through it to enlarge the opening.

They slowly made their way through the enlarged and damaged passageways listening to the sounds of battle going on elsewhere in the bunker. Spider-Man glanced at a few more unconscious, or possibly dead Scriers as they walked past them, but Venom didn't give them a second glance. They followed the twisting passageways until they made turn and Spider-Man felt his spider-sense blare as a throwing star flew past his head.

"I think we found him," Spider-Man commented as they looked to the battle going on.

They looked down the hall to see Dragon Man, largely hunched over and trying to reach into three separate doors where an individual Scrier was desperately dodging and attacking by any means possible. They were so far proving to be quicker then Dragon Man in the enclosed space, but it was only a matter of time before the massive creature either hit one of them, or decided to roast them and get it over with. Their weapons did little to harm Dragon Man, although both Spider-Man and Venom could see that their repeated attacks had left some deep cuts. Still, they had not been enough to make Dragon Man stop his attacks.

"I'll web the door on the right, you web the door on the left," Spider-Man whispered quietly, hoping to draw Dragon Man away and leading him to a location where the creature could be given a choice between fighting or fleeing.

"You can save the Scriers if you want," Venom growled, "I'm here to fight!"

And with that, Venom leaped into the air and landed a flying kick to the center of Dragon Man's back, while simultaneously bringing his fists down on Dragon Man's shoulders. The suddenness of Venom's attack startled Dragon Man and brought the massive creature to the ground, but other then leaving a bruise, did nothing to really harm it. The Scriers tried to take advantage of Dragon Man's momentary distraction, but Spider-Man successfully webbed them in the rooms they had taken shelter in from Dragon Man.

Dragon Man, meanwhile, responded to the attack on him by raising himself up as the roof forced him to fold his wings around him and forced Venom down into a position where he was laying on Dragon Man's back. The creature then shook violently, throwing the symbiote wearing villain back to where Spider-Man was standing.

"See? I told you challenging him directly was a BAD idea," Spider-Man taunted and then turned his attention to Dragon Man, "Come on you overgrown lizard! Surely we taste better then those Scriers! I mean look at 'em. All in black… I bet they've been overdone!"

"We're in black too you idiot," Venom growled as he got back up.

Dragon Man, meanwhile didn't get Spider-Man's joke. He only recognized the two spider themed people as new threats, and to him, more importantly, they were not hiding in a portion of the bunker that he had not been able to bend to fit his size. He thus forgot about the Scriers who largely ran from him and approached the newcomers, hunched over and on all fours so that he would more easily fit in the hallway.

"Okay, he's coming this way," Venom spoke, "Now what?"

"We lead him back to the bunker entrance," Spider-Man answered, "He runs on instinct. If we fight him here, he'll be driven to fight back because he can't escape. If we give him a route to flee through, he just might do that when he realizes he can't easily win in a fight."

Spider-Man then dove back as Dragon Man took a swipe at them, denting the wall even further then it already was. Venom, however, still wasn't convinced and hurdled Dragon Man's arm and lunged at Dragon Man's face. The symbiote wearing villain landed a couple of blows that made Dragon Man stagger backward, but did little to really threaten Dragon Man seriously. Dragon Man merely glared down at Venom and growled angrily.

This made Spider-Man's spider-sense go off at full blast and he dove down a different corridor as a wall of flame covered the hallway they had been in. He ended up catching Venom on a webline and pulling him out of the flames as he screamed in pain. Once out of the fire, the symbiote began to heal almost immediately, but it was still slow going.

"I told you he breathes fire," Spider-Man scolded.

"We are quicker then he is," Venom answered weakly.

"Yes, but at his size, these hallways make it difficult to move around him," Spider-Man answered, "we need to draw him out into a more open space."

Venom recovering from being burned no longer wished to argue the matter with his rival. He'd let Spider-Man take the lead in the fight, as Dragon Man was proving to be a tougher opponent then he had originally thought. At that time, Dragon Man arrived at the entryway to that hallway and reached into it with one arm to swipe at them, narrowly missing.

"Here we go again," Spider-Man half chuckled as he fired a few web-balls at Dragon Man's face to insure that the creature remained incensed to follow them rather then turn back to the foes he knew he had already beaten.

Dragon Man roared and began to pursue the two spider-themed people, damaging the bunker walls as he went.

**Avengers Tower, New York**

"I don't know how I'm to handle all of this," Anna Watson said nervously as she looked out a window, "My nephew-in-law really is Spider-Man, my pregnant niece is Arachne, and you're totally okay with all of it!?"

"It's not like I can forbid it," May told her friend, "I'm not a young woman anymore. What am I to do? Spank a man who's about to become a father himself?"

"It might teach him a thing or two," Anna grumbled. Thankfully, May didn't hear that remark.

"Learning Peter is Spider-Man was a shock to me," May spoke with a sigh, "and to a certain extent, I do wish he didn't have to be Spider-Man, but I understand why he does it."

"Why does he do it?" Anna asked.

"You remember Ben?" May asked, and waited for Anna to nodded, "well, HE is why Peter is Spider-Man."

"Your husband made him become Spider-Man?" Anna questioned.

"Peter ignored one of the sayings that Ben commonly used shortly after he gained his powers," May tried to condense all that she had learned from Peter about why he became Spider-Man, "and when he died, and Peter learned about some of the details that went along with Ben's death, he blamed himself for the mistakes he made."

"He didn't ignore the man who killed Ben, did he?" Anna gasped.

"It wasn't Peter's fault, really," May spoke in defense of her nephew.

"But you just admitted that he let the man who killed him go!" Anna spoke, "If he's decided to be some big hero, he should have stopped him."

"He didn't start out as a hero," May sighed, "he started with show business of all things, and didn't figure it was his business to get involved in fighting crime. When a crook robbed the manager, he let the man go, as he figured it wasn't his business…"

"And then he killed Ben," Anna finished.

"From what Peter's told me, yes," May nodded, "the man who he let go would later kill Ben, and when Peter learned that Ben was dead, he went after the man who did it. He ended up learning the man who killed Ben was the same man he let go, and that made him feel EXTREMELY guilty and he ended up deciding to be Spider-Man because of it."

"You make it sound as if he's been trying to make up for the mistake he made before," Anna commented.

May nodded, "in a sense, he has. It wasn't his fault that Ben was killed, as it easily could have been a different burglar that night… and to be honest, Ben and I had had a small argument that same night of no real importance. Nothing that would have hurt our marriage, but…"

"You felt guilty as well?" Anna asked, sounding surprised.

"Seems to be a tradition," May gave a very weak chuckle.

"So this is all about power and responsibility for Peter," Anna summarized, trying to remember her friend's husband's saying.

"Yes," May nodded, "he feels it's his responsibility to use his powers to protect the people of New York. And I doubt there is anything I could do to make him stop. Ben and I raised him too well for something like that to work."

Anna only gave a defeated sigh, "It's just too much. It's just too much."

"I know this isn't easy, but you still love Mary Jane, don't you?" May questioned.

"Of course," Anna answered, "she is my favorite niece… and if Gayle shows up, you're not to tell her that. I love my family with all my heart… but there are times when I feel more like a mother to Mary Jane rather then only as an Aunt. I want what is best for her."

"As I do for Peter," May nodded, "but we must remember that they are adults, married adults about to become a family. The best we can do is advise and let them live their lives. They aren't the kids we looked after all those years ago."

Anna nodded, "this won't be easy for me."

"I know," May agreed, "Nothing in life ever is."

They were quiet for a moment before turning to look out the window.

**Australia**

Venom seemed to have recovered from the fire blast that Dragon Man had delivered when they made it back into the larger open area of the bunker where they had first entered, and he quickly took up a post on the far wall, hoping to get some height to use to his advantage. Spider-Man, meanwhile, stayed on the ground, hoping to draw Dragon Man into a position were the creature's instincts would scream 'flee' rather then 'fight'.

"Now comes the hard part," Spider-Man mumbled as Dragon Man slowly entered the chamber, roaring in challenge as he did so.

Dragon Man started with a arms first lunge at Spider-Man, which the arachnid themed hero easily dodged, going to one of the side walls. Spider-Man then quickly webbed up the doors to the rest of the bunker, hoping that Dragon Man turned he would be hesitant to attack the webbing, although he also knew that if Dragon Man did attack them, the webbing wouldn't last long against the creature's strength and size.

Venom, meanwhile took advantage of Dragon Man's lunge at Spider-Man and leaped onto the creature's back with a strong kick and then leaped to the wall opposite. The blow, combined with Dragon Man's lung sent the creature face first into the ground, and skidding forward a few feet. Spider-Man then added to Venom's attack by webbing Dragon Man's legs together.

The opening moves thoroughly enraged Dragon Man. The two black clothed spider-people were fast, and at least one of them was strong enough to land blows that he actually felt. But still, they were smaller then he was and likely weren't invulnerable, and they had interrupted his meal along with the robed men that Dragon Man had already defeated. After pulling the webbing off his legs he swung his tail at his two opponents, making both of them dodge the attack. He then pivoted on one foot and hit Spider-Man while the hero was in mid air with a blow that sent him flying into a far wall.

"Did someone get the number of that freight train?" Spider-Man mumbled in a disoriented state as he tried to get up, with Dragon Man approaching to finish him off.

Dragon Man, in his approach to finish off Spider-Man, had, however forgotten about Venom, and the symbiote wearing villain wasted no time in reminding Dragon Man of his presence. He leaped at one of Dragon Man's legs, knocking it slightly inward, and then landing powerful swinging blow to the side of the knee on that leg. Dragon Man roared with pain as he hobbled to a side, knocking Venom away with his tail, but eventually collapsing onto the ground a few feet away from Spider-Man as the hero in the room began to regain his senses.

"You owe us one," Venom told Spider-Man.

"I already saved you from being burned alive," Spider-Man shot back as he got up, "we're even."

"Very well," Venom grumbled as they both turned to face Dragon Man, who was struggling to get up.

The two then got up as Dragon Man finally got back to his feet, but now eyed to two carefully. They were both strong and fast, far stronger and faster then what the robed men he had been fighting earlier, and one was strong enough to practically dislocate one of his knees, and that particular leg still hurt. It would take him time to heal, which wouldn't be easy if he stayed. And with that Dragon Man followed the only instinct he could get the time to heal. He opened his wings and took to the air. He let loose a wall of flame toward Venom and Spider-Man, but this was only to let him get airborne.

"He's fleeing?" Venom wondered.

"I told you, Johnny told me that Dragon Man operates on instinct," Spider-Man answered, "when you hurt his leg, he realized that while he might be able to beat us, doing so wouldn't be conducive to his own survival. So he did what would best suit him."

Venom only shrugged.

"Now, to collect the Scriers I left webbed in the other hallway," Spider-Man spoke and began walking toward the damaged hallway they first went down earlier.

**Avengers Tower, NY**

Anna found her niece quietly watching television. She was watching a news program. She managed to calmly sit down next to her pregnant niece as she stroked her womb.

"You really let a pretty big 'cat' out of the bag, today," Aunt Anna said weakly.

"I think 'spider' would be more appropriate," Mary Jane gave an equally weak chuckle, "I'm no cat-girl."

"You know what I mean," Aunt Anna told MJ.

Mary Jane only nodded agreement, "I do… and I'm sorry that you had to find out the way you did. I had been trying to think of a way to break it gently… I don't think I succeeded."

"No, no you didn't," Anna sighed, and then took Mary Jane's hand, "but you did tell me, and you're doing the smart thing while you're pregnant and not going out superheroing. I'd prefer it if both you and Peter retired from it when your twins are born… but, I guess I can not stop you if you choose to continue."

"Thank you for not hating me," Mary Jane smiled weakly.

"Hate you, I could never hate you," Aunt Anna told her firmly, "I love you, Mary Jane… as my niece of course. You are my family, even we do not agree on everything."

"Thank you," Mary Jane smiled, and felt her children move within her.

**Australia**

"You let it go?" the first S.H.I.E.L.D. agent gasped as the two agents engaged Spider-Man and Venom in a very different conversation.

"Dragon Man isn't much more then a large animal," Spider-Man answered, "The Scriers are the real villains not Dragon Man."

"You also didn't order us to capture Dragon Man," Venom added, taking some pleasure the frustrating to the pushy agents, "you merely ordered us to investigate what was going on at their bunker."

"It's still a threat to National Security," the second agent growled, "It should have been captured and humanely euthanized."

"He's only a threat if someone is manipulating him," Spider-Man spoke, "he only fought Venom and I because we attacked him."

"And suppose someone gets hold of him and does manipulate him?" the first agent questioned, "You've let a three ton beast that could level a city block go. Director Hill will be most displeased."

"Stark is the director now," Spider-Man answered, "and besides, we've finally captured a few Scriers and their equipment, while nearly every other base we've found has been abandoned. Shouldn't that be a good thing?"

"It's the only reason we haven't had you executed yet," the first agent growled, "Now, come along, before you botch something else."

**To Be Continued…**


	11. Revelations to the World

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee, and owned by the Walt Disney Corporation (Disney bought Marvel). No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 11: Revelations to the World**

**Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane sat quietly waiting in one of the communications rooms, waiting for any sort of contact with the S.H.I.E.L.D. craft that currently carried her husband and one of his greatest villains on a quest to destroy the Brotherhood of Scriers. That, however, was nearly the farthest thing from her mind. As she entered her twenty eighth week of pregnancy, she knew she was getting close to the 'big day'. She wanted Peter there, and she didn't really care what mission Hill had sent him on before she was sacked as S.H.I.E.L.D. director.

"Is there anything?" Mary Jane asked the communications officer that manning his post.

"I'm sorry madam, but the Scrier team hasn't reported anything," the officer answered, "other then that they've finished with Australia and Oceana and are now headed for Japan."

"He's my husband, I need to speak with him," Mary Jane spoke.

"I know he is, Madam," the officer answered, "but S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol gives the agents with him the right to decide what communiqués are made with them. It's partially why Director Stark has not been able to send anyone after them… or go after them himself."

Mary Jane only sighed again. She wanted Peter by her side. The Scriers could wait until AFTER she'd given birth, as far as she was concerned.

"Can you send a request and let them know that I want to talk to my husband?" Mary Jane asked.

"I can, but I'm not sure they will answer it," the officer answered, "as I said before, if they don't find it important, they can easily reject it."

"You'll let me know if they 'OK' it?" Mary Jane asked.

"Of course, Madam," the officer answered.

Mary Jane then turned and sighed again. All of this part of the current struggle over the Registration Act and the government's decision to force every superhero to work for it in every possible capacity. Things on that front had quieted down a bit, but there was still a lot of tension going around. Cap was still leading an underground resistance movement, and Tony Stark, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s newest director was increasingly coming under fire for not actively fighting Captain America. She didn't think it would be long before the tension was broken, and it wouldn't likely be a good thing.

As Mary Jane entered into the living quarters area, she quickly found that her fears were right. Laying on a small waiting table was a copy of the New York Times. On its front page was a picture of Mary Jane looking like a deer in the headlights, legally bought from the Tabloid that originally accused her of having an affair with Tony Stark. Beside the picture was the headline, 'Supermodel or Superhero?'

She went on to read the article in which the mugger that had tried to mug her and Aunt Anna had blabbed everything to the police once they came and removed him from the webbing as part of some plea bargain. There was some concern about whether or not she was registered or not, which was certain to cause more trouble.

"Nuts," was all Mary Jane could manage to say.

**Elsewhere**

The leader of the entire Brotherhood of Scriers sat quietly as a council of other Scriers argued over what to do next. It had been determined that the only way to stop Spider-Man and Venom for sure was the Prime Scrier, known to the Brotherhood as Scrier, as they all were known. But that would take time. They had all the ingredients for the spell needed to awaken him, but they had to wait for the right moment to cast the spell, and thus needed to do something to bide time.

The Scriers were still evacuating their global bases, hoping they'd bring together enough members of their Brotherhood to defend their primary base, but as their Priests described it, 'the black spiders' were still coming. Something was needed to slow them down.

"I can't believe your suggesting this!" one Scrier growled in a clearly frustrated voice, "It's Osborn all over again!"

"We have no choice," the leader of the Scriers sighed in a heavy voice, "Either we ask for their help, or we move our members to our outside bases and hope we can repeal Spider-Man and Venom with tactics that have continued to fail of late."

"The Hand are dangerous," a second Scrier warned, ignoring his leader's point, "if they succeed, they will expect us to repay them with a similar favor."

"As I said, it's Osborn all over again," the first added.

"So you would rather have us guard all our bases despite the fact that we can't send everyone to every base, and the fact that nothing has stopped Spider-Man or Venom so far?" the leader questioned, "Meaning that they will likely capture all our bases in tact and advance here."

"It would buy the Priests time to awaken the Prime Scrier," the second pointed out.

"And you're certain that they wouldn't learn anything about our plans to awaken the Prime Scrier an act accordingly?" the leader asked, "they're sure to interrogate their prisoners, which means they'll learn everything. Which will mean that he could arrive with Doctor Strange or some other powerful sorcerer and some portion their hero population currently not involved in this 'civil war' of heroes… are you ready to deal with that?"

"No," both of the Scriers that had been speaking admitted.

"The Hand will undoubtedly demand favors, but Spider-Man and Venom will likely do them enough damage that we can refuse anything we deem suicidal for us," the leading Scrier spoke, "it is a gamble, but one we have to take."

"There is also the possibility that Spider-Man and Venom will defeat the Hand and will continue on to attack us," a third Scrier commented, "and the symbiote's powers of regeneration have proven to be extraordinary. And were have exhausted all our opportunities for an operative with sound or fire powers. They've either been defeated, haven't been found, or are already in prison. Unless you the original Human Torch stashed away somewhere, I doubt we can do much against Venom by spreading ourselves out."

"The Prime Scrier can also destroy the hand once he's been awakened if they defeat Spider-Man and Venom," one of the Priests present spoke, "and we are certain that the Hand does not know of the Prime Scrier."

"You really think we have no other choice?" the second Scrier asked.

The lead Scrier nodded, "Spider-Man and Venom have done us too much damage. We must take chances if we are to stand a chance of winning. If the Priests are correct and we do not do something drastic, we will be destroyed."

The other present Scriers shuddered heavily.

**S.H.I.E.L.D. Hovercraft, Nearing Tokyo**

Peter sighed heavily as the hovercraft sped on its way to the Japanese capital. Things for him had been fine with the exception of not knowing how things were with MJ. She had to be in her third trimester by now, and her condition dwelled more on his mind then the Scriers. A part of his mind wonder if that was a smart thing to do, as S.H.I.E.L.D. presently didn't trust any hero, the Scriers were still formidable foes, and his partner was his most dangerous villain, Eddie Brock, Venom. Any one of those three could put him out of his misery in a minute if he wasn't careful…

But he remembered what MJ went through when their first child was stillborn. He had to be there for her, and for the moment, that was all that mattered to him. The thoughts about his future family, however, was put on pause when one of the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents came back into the passenger area where Peter and Brock were seated.

"We're just about to Tokyo," the agent spoke.

"And let me guess, you want to go to the 'Hello Kitty' stores?" Peter quipped.

"That is another demerit and a dock in what pay you're given," the agent answered.

Peter only sighed. None of these S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had any sense of humor, and their blind support of whatever Maria Hill supported was really beginning to get on his nerves.

"We are not here to shop or be tourists," the agent answered, "Our mission is the same as it has always been. To catch the Scriers."

"In other words find an empty base," Peter grumbled, "it might be easier to do some detective work and try to figure out where their primary base is."

"We are not trusting you with information that S.H.I.E.L.D. worked hard to recover on a threat to national security," the agent answered.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't even bat an eye," Peter retorted, "You got paranoid that Arachne and I were out and decided to follow us and the confiscated everything after we did all the work."

"We are better qualified then you," the agent answered, "and that is another demerit."

The agent then sighed and continued, "We will be taking you to the site of where the Scriers have their Tokyo base. It is inside an old hotel, so try to keep the property damage to a minimum."

Peter glanced out a nearby window and saw the glow of electric lights in the distance. He sighed and then pulled on his mask.

"I always try," Spider-Man spoke firmly, "that doesn't change the fact that there are a lot of bad guys out there that are powerful enough that property damage is unavoidable… unless you want us to go in there with dart guns and poison them all to death."

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent did agree there, to a degree. Sending them in with poison tipped darts wouldn't work. He agreed with Maria Hill that they needed to be tough on crime and that most superheroes were guilty of being stupid and needed S.H.I.E.L.D. training and supervision, but he didn't believe in executing a criminal BEFORE he had been tried and been given the death penalty. And if they were going to use a poison dart, why would they need a superhero? A regular agent could use a dart gun just as effectively.

"Just try not to flatten the walls as you fight them," the agent spoke, "S.H.I.E.L.D. can not afford to rebuild Tokyo."

"Will you settle for a door or a window?" Spider-Man quipped.

"That is ANOTHER demerit."

"We'd keep our mouth shut if we were you," Venom snickered, enjoying the barbs being thrown at each other by Spider-Man and their S.H.I.E.L.D. handler.

They continued on in silence as they flew into Tokyo. The Japanese megalopolis glittered with electric lights as it did every night… or at least the part of it they were in did. Spider-Man was sure that were not as brilliantly lit and had some older looking architecture in it, but as the agent had put it, they weren't there to be tourists. Once they reached the top of the hotel that the Scriers were supposedly using, the hovercraft came to a stop and the door opened.

Spider-Man and Venom leaped from the hovercraft and landed easily on the roof of the hotel. As they moved toward a door, Spider-Man nervously looked around as though he was looking for something.

"What are you doing?" Venom questioned, noticing Spider-Man's nervous glances.

"Just keeping an eye out," Spider-Man spoke, "this part of the city may have a ton of electric and neon lights… much like New York does, I might add… but that doesn't mean that there are shadows that they could hide in. And these Scrier guys might as well be ninjas."

"You're nuts," Venom grumbled as he ripped a door to the inside off its hinges.

"Okay, but you can expect an 'I told you so' when we run into a hundred Scriers all out to get us," Spider-Man retorted as he followed Venom into the base.

They went down a rather standard looking hallway for a Japanese hotel, but Spider-Man could feel his spider-sense tingling slightly as they went. This had to mean the Scriers as Venom didn't, nor did any of the other symbiotes alert his spider-sense. When they came to the door at the end of the hall, Spider-Man felt his spider-sense buzzing at full strength.

"It's that door," Spider-Man spoke, pointing to the door closest to him.

"How do you know it's THAT door?" Venom questioned.

"Because my head buzzes more the closer I stand to it," Spider-Man answered and moved to open the door.

The door opened to reveal two Scriers carrying boxes and strange looking vials toward the door. They jumped in surprise at seeing Spider-Man and Venom, as if they didn't expect anyone to arrive.

"The spiders!" the first of the two Scriers shouted and dropped the stack of boxes he was carrying.

Neither Scrier was able to say more. Spider-Man webbed the first one in the face and then slammed him against the wall, knocking him out. Venom, meanwhile lunged forward and clubbed the other Scrier to the ground with his fists. Once the second Scrier was on the ground, Venom kicked him, sending the black robed man flying down the hall within the hotel 'room'.

The two continued to advance into the hotel room, finding it largely empty and with most of what would be expected in a hotel room missing, and replaced with what was a cross between an ancient shrine and technological headquarters. They found no other Scriers in the room, and it did show clear evidence of the base being evacuated.

"We finally got to one before they could leave it," Venom commented.

"Maybe, but I still got a bad feeling about this," Spider-Man commented.

Venom was about to answer when a new voice cut him off.

"Good of you to sense your own doom," came a female's voice, "it'll make my job much easier."

Spider-Man and Venom both turned to find a sight that shocked them both. Nearly fifty Hand ninja were now standing in the entryway to the hotel room and in the hall outside it. And what surprised Spider-Man the most were the two easily recognizable people standing amongst them. One was Elektra, who Spider-Man thought was one of the world's heroes, and the other was one who, before all of this had gone on, and before MJ had become Arachne, had just joined the 'New' Avengers. Maya Lopez, also known as Echo.

"I really hate ninjas," Spider-Man groaned as he could see that a great fight was about to begin.

**Avengers Tower, NYC, NY, USA**

Mary Jane, upon seeing the article that threatened to reveal her identity to the world, went straight to the one person who might be able to help clear things up. Tony Stark, the present S.H.I.E.L.D. director.

"Have you seen this report?" Mary Jane questioned tossing the newspaper onto the desk he was working on.

Tony looked at the article and sighed heavily.

"I think I did glance at this earlier, but you must understand Mary Jane that I'm under a lot of pressure," Tony sighed, "the administration wants me to go all out to catch Cap to follow them as Maria Hill did… which as you know would be doing exactly as the Red Skull wants. I've been busy trying to arrange conferences with the men and woman that Hill promoted during her time as director, and have found most of them to be political loyalists, and not really adept at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mission beyond that of common agent… probably some program on her part to weed out those who were loyal to Fury."

Mary Jane slowly sighed. She knew he was under a lot of political pressure, as the 'civil war' over the Registration Act was still going on. And she was certain that some of her present 'ignoring' that was her own hormones and her pregnancy.

"What am I to do?" Mary Jane asked, "they're talking about wanting to arrest me for being unregistered… but I AM registered. It's not my fault that Hill decided to withhold my name from the public for 'training' purposes."

"It isn't, but in the present situation involving the Registration Act there isn't much that can be done," Tony explained, "the article exposes you as a superhuman, but didn't name you as Arachne. You could deny it, as it would be your word against a criminal's… but it won't stop the rumor mill, and the conspiracy people will likely follow you for the rest of your days…"

"Peter and I could survive that," Mary Jane sighed, "I've done a lot of that sort of thing before I became Arachne. People making rumors about models and such… but we have Aunt May to consider, as well as my own family… and then…"

Mary Jane placed a hand on her swollen womb.

"And Peter and I are having a family of our own," Mary Jane finished, "I want them to have as normal a life as likely irradiated spider-powered kids can."

Tony nodded.

"The other possible options aren't any better," Tony warned, "One is to go underground to Cap's forces. I might be able to smuggle you and your Aunts to a meeting spot, but that's all… and I'd think that right now is when you'd need your doctor most."

Mary Jane nodded. Tony then sighed.

"The only other option would be to go public," Tony sighed, "I've been trying to figure out the private password that Hill put on the superhero files that go along with the Registration Act, so I can't change your status… and before you ask… Hill left S.H.I.E.L.D. shortly of her own accord when she was demoted and I was promoted. I have no idea WHERE she is… which means that going public will mean 'unmasking' yourself and explaining that that criminal's accusations are at best only half truths."

"Tell the world I'm Arachne?" Mary Jane gasped.

"And likely that Peter is Spider-Man as well," Tony sighed, "it'll be the only thing that stops the rumor mill and will put the fires of the 'arrest an unregistered' crowd out."

"It'd likely start some other fires," Mary Jane commented.

"Fires that technically should have started when you and Peter registered," Tony told her, "it isn't going to be easy, but it may be what you have to do…"

"And what about the Registration Act?" Mary Jane asked, "Peter and I don't mind the work. I'm sure he doesn't like it right now, but we can manage… but I want my children to be able to choose their own carriers when they grow up."

"Both Cap and I are working on that," Tony spoke, "Either I'll get them to amend the act somehow, or Cap will find a way to get it repealed. Either way, everything will be set right."

"I hope so," Mary Jane sighed, "I hope so. This whole thing is rapidly becoming terrifying… and right now, the fact that I can't do anything is the worst part of it."

"I know," Tony nodded.

"If you can arrange the press conference, I'll go along with it," Mary Jane sighed, "I've already registered… so I guess this is just the final step for that…"

"We'll do everything we can to insure you're protected," Tony told her, "don't worry."

**Tokyo, Japan**

Spider-Man was absolutely dumbstruck by what he saw. Now, he guessed that the Hand being there was plausible. The Scriers had followed Osborn for a long time, but Elektra and Echo were shocking surprises in the worst way. Both of them were supposed to be on the hero's side of things, not the villains.

"Okay," Spider-Man began, "Please tell me there's something I missed when the Avengers went back to New York…"

"You missed Ms. Lopez's death and conversion, Spider-Man," Elektra said coldly, "did you honestly think that one hero could defeat or spy on the Hand? Japan's superheroes have all gone down in one way or another. Silver Samurai… If you can call him a hero… has decided to retire to his castle. Most of the others lost their powers when your red witch went nuts."

"And maybe we have missed something," Echo added in a more monotone voice, "Daredevil has told me that you and Venom are mortal enemies…"

Spider-Man glanced at Venom and shrugged, "Not really mortal enemies. He doesn't smell all that great and his breath is worse, but it's not enough for me to be his enemy."

Venom only growled and charged forward. Spider-Man may have wanted to figure out what was going on, but the symbiote wearing villain didn't care. The Hand presented him someone to fight, and that would be enough. He caught two Hand ninja in a powerful clubbing blow and then back handed another that attempted slash at him with a sword, sending that ninja flying backwards into a wall.

"Ninja, ATTACK!" Elektra ordered and all the Hand ninja rushed toward the two of them, killing any chance Spider-Man had of figuring out what was going on.

Spider-Man caught two Hand ninja with a flipping kick, which allowed him to use both legs, and then landed on the wall behind them. He then quickly shot out two weblines that completely wrapped two other Hand ninja up. Elektra, however, following this from her position threw one of her sais at Spider-Man. Warned by his spider-sense, Spider-Man easily avoided the attack, but his dodge took him straight into a kick thrown at him by a different Hand ninja which knocked him out the glass window and into the Tokyo night.

Several Hand ninja were quick to follow Spider-Man out the window, knowing that his web-spinning ability and agility would likely protect him from harm.

"I will deal with Spider-Man," Echo volunteered, "You may deal with Venom, Mistress."

Elektra glanced to see Venom surrounded by Hand ninja with several of them knocked out. The symbiote wearing villain had taken a few glancing blows from fists and various bladed weapons, but the alien was swiftly healing any damage done to both itself and to Brock. Elektra smiled at the challenge.

"Good," Elektra nodded, "Remember our bargain with the Scriers. Spider-Man is to join us."

"And he will," Echo nodded and moved to follow the Hand ninja going after Spider-Man.

Venom, meanwhile took on the Hand ninja that faced him with near reckless abandon. But then, physical attacks meant little to him. Spider-Man managed it occasionally, but he was also far stronger then the average human, and Venom had to admit that in their past battles he had made mistakes that either underestimated Spider-Man's abilities or allowed Spider-Man to play to the symbiote's vulnerability to sound or fire. But these Hand ninja were far weaker then Spider-Man and far slower… and if Venom was vulnerable to their weapons, he might consider being afraid of their numbers, but he wasn't.

"It would appear that the alien is somehow immune to physical blows, perhaps a different tactic is in order," Elektra spoke, and then continued in Japanese, "burn him."

Venom stood in a ready position as the Hand ninja that he hadn't dealt with began chanting in Japanese and brought their hands together. His eyes then widened as if by magic, balls of fire appeared in their hands. The fire was then launched at Venom from nearly every possible angle.

He managed to avoid most of the fireballs, but one or two did nick him, and that knocked him back into a nearby wall, the symbiote in deep pain at having been hurt.

"You hurt us," Venom snarled.

"The Scriers have informed us of your strengths and weaknesses, alien," Elektra spoke, "we know that physical combat can knock your host, but even with our numbers, you and Brock are too strong for that… therefore we will turn to magic to play to your weaknesses."

Venom only growled back.

Spider-Man didn't find the fall to be too troublesome, as his powers made it possible for him to easily outdo any Olympic gymnasts in feats of acrobatics. He fired of a webline to the building opposite him and swung upside down and backwards to land on the roof of a smaller building near by. Like many other buildings in this part of Tokyo, it was extremely well lit and had few shadows.

The pursuing Hand ninja were quick to follow and quickly had him surrounded as even more Hand ninja appeared out of what few shadows there were. Echo landed in front of them.

"You know if this is about any inappropriate comments I made about you being deaf, I'm sorry," Spider-Man said backing away, looking for any place he could escape to.

"Your comments are unimportant here, Spider-Man," Echo spoke, "You are to serve a greater purpose then your own banter."

"Hey, my banter is very important," Spider-Man shot back as he leaped up and clung to a raised panel of lights and shot a pair of weblines down, wrapping two Hand ninja up in them, "without it, most bad guys wouldn't know what they were doing wrong."

Spider-Man was sure that Echo had missed part of that, as his face wasn't facing her the entire time… though Spider-Man did wonder how the woman could 'read' his lips when they were covered by his mask. Maybe his mask was thin enough that she could see the basic movements through the fabric.

"Seriously, why are you doing this?" Spider-Man asked, "You're an Avenger. Avengers don't do this."

"I suppose the Scarlet Witch wasn't an Avenger then?" Echo retorted.

"You know what I mean," Spider-Man sighed.

"You should know the Hand do not resurrect anyone to not bring them into the Hand," Echo said plainly as several of the Hand ninja around her suddenly produced bows and arrows.

"Oh boy," Spider-Man grumbled.

**New York City, NY, USA**

In his apartment, Flash Thompson watched quietly as a news conference was beginning at Stark Towers. He assumed that Tony Stark would be discussing something in relation to the Registration Act, which Flash really didn't get. Superheroes already defended the country. Did the government really need a law that made them protect it? He hadn't read the paper all that closely, so the supposed story of Peter's wife being an 'unregistered superhuman' was also confusing to him.

He focused intently as Tony Stark approached the podium.

**Daily Bugle Offices**

J. Jonah Jameson watched intently as Stark approached the podium. He had wanted to cover this press conference for the sake of the news, but he couldn't shake the feeling that covering it was wrong.

"We should be there," Jonah sighed, "this is news."

"It's Peter's wife," Robbie spoke, "we shouldn't be capitalizing on what could be an embarrassing situation for him."

"Parker? That ungrateful kid? He up and left us," Jonah grumbled, "Something about S.H.I.E.L.D. supporting him more. Why would I do something support him?… After all I did for the boy he up and leaves!"

"Peter didn't make the call, and neither did Mary Jane," Robbie spoke, "I'd prefer to talk with him directly…"

"Interrogate him? Now we're talking," Jonah nodded, "maybe you can drill some sense into him."

"Come on now," Robbie told him, "You know you care about him like a son."

"Which is why I expected more from him," Jonah answered, "and he just leaves me here high and dry."

"I doubt he'd just do that," Robbie told him, "there has to be an explanation for this."

"There'd better be," Jonah grumbled.

"And I'm sure he'd appreciate you not going crazy over his wife being accused of being an unregistered superhuman," Robbie told him.

"It's still news," Jonah countered, "we'll make one 'stat-line' if she admits to it to be tied in with our update on the Registration Act… but we aren't a tabloid looking to smear someone's reputation and ruin their privacy."

Robbie slowly nodded, "I just wonder how this is affecting Peter."

"Bah," Jonah replied.

**Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane stood nervously behind a curtain Tony stepped up to a platform to address several media men who were actively voicing the pressure on Tony to enforce the Registration Act the way Maria Hill did. This had put Tony in a tough spot at he was trying to do what he could to get Hill's supporters within S.H.I.E.L.D. to support him while maintaining his agreement with Cap.

She looked down nervously at a maternity dress that had the coloring and design of her Arachne costume on it, and sighed. The current mess was making that problem worse. She and Peter were registered. They had done that to allow MJ to see her doctor. But Hill had kept their registration classified, and now some mugger had her in a position where she would have to reveal herself to be Arachne, and likely tell the truth about her husband as well. Which would then raise problems for both herself and for Tony… though part of her mind felt that Tony's problems in relation to MJ 'unmasking' were small.

She hoped she was doing the right thing as Tony began to speak.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the press and media," Tony spoke, "I'd like to thank you all for coming to this press conference… concerning the recent accusations made by a known criminal low-life."

"This has to do with the registration act," a reporter spoke, "Is she an unregistered superhuman or not? If she is, what steps are you taking to arrest her? Or are you treating her like you've treated the traitor Steven Rogers."

"My handling of the current arguments over the Registration Act is to insure the country is not destroyed by heroes going all out against each other," Tony defended his position, "In time I believe we can persuade those who have gone underground to Register, which would accomplish things without fighting… and that should be everyone's goal, and the recent 'incident' allows for S.H.I.E.L.D. to take its first steps in testing my handling of the Registration Act. The woman in question that you want arrested is not an unregistered superhuman, but I will leave the explanation to her. May I present, Ms. Mary Jane Watson-Parker, a.k.a. Arachne."

Mary Jane then slowly made her way out toward the podium as Tony stepped aside. Several flashbulbs went off for newspaper photographs.

"Good afternoon," Mary Jane began, "I would ask that you save all questions until after I've explained my present situation. Thank you."

She then paused as she looked out at the faces in front of her. Some seemed impartial. Some looked surprised, and some looked like they wanted Tony to put on his armor and throw her through a wall. She gulped nervously.

"As you know, I am Mary Jane Watson-Parker, known as a model and actress," Mary Jane began, "and as recent events have revealed superhuman…"

Mary Jane then sighed heavily.

"I will start by saying the man's accusation is only half true," Mary Jane sighed, "I am a superhuman. The heroine, Arachne… though I haven't been active of late for obvious reasons… but I am not unregistered. I am in fact registered. Then Director Hill, however, decided to keep my identity classified for training purposes. I can not say I know why she did that."

"What about your husband?" a man asked in the back, "does he know about this?"

"What about Spider-Man?" a different reporter asked, "all of the reports on Arachne have included her being VERY friendly with him. How does your husband feel about you flirting with someone that isn't him?"

"Is Spider-Man registered?"

"What is he like in bed?"

Mary Jane sighed, knowing that questions like this were coming, and also wondering why tabloids and gossip columns needed to cover this. It was also bringing everything to a point that she felt was a real betrayal of Peter, but had to be done if she was to get as normal a life as she would get.

"I am aware of my actions with Spider-Man as Arachne, and there are those who know me, or know my husband, or know Spider-Man that may think ill of me or of Spider-Man," Mary Jane began, "and such sentiments are unnecessary. Spider-Man and I registered at the same time, so he is not in violation of the Registration Act… though Hill pulled the same strings with him as she did with me…"

Mary Jane then sighed heavily.

"And in to the interactions between myself and Spider-Man," Mary Jane then said weakly after a few moments, "they can not be described as cheating. My husband, Peter Parker, has been Spider-Man since he was fifteen years old."

The shocked silence was amazing… as none of the reporters there knew who Peter Parker was, and certainly didn't expect what Mary Jane had just said.

**Flash's Apartment**

Flash gasped in utter shock and disbelief. Before fainting from it all, only one thought went through his mind…

"Puny Parker is Spider-Man?"

**Daily Bugle Offices**

The atmosphere of the Daily Bugle offices was slightly different. After Mary Jane finished announcing that her husband had been Spider-Man since he was fifteen, Jonah threw the heaviest object he could grab into his office television, destroying it.

"Parker is Spider-Man?" Jonah growled in a low voice.

"That's what she said," Robbie nodded, looking shocked and surprised, but no where near as angry as Jonah did.

"All those years… and I thought I'd taught him more then that!" Jonah growled, "he's been using me for years!"

"Jonah, I'm sure there's an explanation," Robbie told him, "I find it hard to believe that Peter's been using you."

"You're siding with him?" Jonah yelled back and stood up, "With Park… Park…"

Jonah then clutched his chest as he suddenly felt some tightness there.

"PARKER!" Jonah roared at full volume before collapsing to the ground.

"Jonah!" Robbie spoke in a shocked voice.

**Tokyo, Japan**

Venom slashed out with one hand, extending 'claws' at the end of his fingers until they impaled five Hand ninja in one swing and forced the rest to move away, though in the enclosed space of the hotel room, another three ended up still within striking range of the symbiote wearing villain. Ignoring the Hand ninja that turned to dust after being impaled on his claws, Venom repeated the attack with other hand on the three that were closest to him.

"You had better be willing to go down with us if you expect to burn us," Venom growled in warning as he prepared to advance on Elektra and the Hand ninja around her, "for while fire does harm us… we will not cower before it."

"I expect you to cook, then," Elektra said icily and began to leave the room, and then ordered the Hand ninja, "Ignite the room."

Venom growled as they all readied the dark magic they had used to create the fireballs they had thrown before as Elektra left the room with her back to him. There were still twenty Hand ninja in front of him, but that was rapidly becoming unimportant.

"Don't you dare turn your back on us!" Venom roared and lunged forward, punching one Hand ninja and hurdling several more.

He then lunged forward with the last five Hand ninja clinging to his shoulders and upper arms as Venom reached for Elektra. Elektra only responded by pivoting and landing a side kick against Venom's chest while the symbiote was still suspended in mid air.

"Do not think I am stupid," Elektra answered, "Your skills are beneath me, and are not worth my time."

Venom was knocked back into the hotel room as the other conscious Hand ninja cast their spells and threw the fireballs they generated into the wooden walls around them, which quickly burst into flame.

"Good bye, alien," Elektra finished.

Venom only fired out a webline of his own and caught Elektra by and arm.

"Don't leave yet," Venom growled, feeling the heat around him, and knowing he didn't have long before the heat would cook the symbiote and its host.

He then gave the line a good yank, sending Elektra flying through the air. She hit the ceiling and bounced down to hit the remaining Hand ninja in the room, knocking them into the flaming walls. Venom does feel triumphant at hearing them scream and then roll on the floor desperately trying to put the fires out.

"You wanted a fight," Venom spoke, "we will give you a fight."

Elektra nervously looked around. There was still a large hole that Spider-Man had been knocked through, but Venom would pursue. The symbiote had to be kept in the burning room, where the fire would destroy the alien. She drew her sais and faced off against Venom.

"Very well, alien," Elektra spoke.

She then threw one sai at Venom, hoping to hit him directly in the chest. Venom caught the projectile, however and crushed it in his hand. The central point of the weapon did go through his hand, but the symbiote quickly and easily repaired that damage.

"You are out of your league against us, ninja," Venom said confidently, "way out of your league."

Venom then crushed the weapon in his fist. Elektra, trying to put on a brave face could tell the situation was hopeless for her. She might be able to maneuver the symbiote wearing villain into punching the walls a few times, exposing it directly to the flames, but with his strength and speed, he'd eventually land a strong enough blow to knock her out. Or worse.

But maybe, she could delay him long enough that he would not be able to escape the flames. Venom then swung his other fist in a downward arch, hoping to catch Elektra and literally crush her in his talons. Elektra managed to dodge it, and noticed that he had done damage to the floor. If he kept this up, the burning building would collapse on top of him.

"You'll need to be faster if you want to catch me," Elektra told him and kicked Venom in the elbow, successfully dislocating the lower part of his arm.

Venom roared with pain and caught Elektra with a webline from his other hand and again yanked on it to pull the ninja toward him. Venom then caught Elektra with his uninjured arm and gave the ninja a confident toothy grin. Elektra watched as the symbiote put the arm she had damaged back into working order.

"Hiyyyyaaaah!" Elektra screamed and tried to twist in Venom's grasp, slicing his chest open with her other sai.

The symbiote repaired the damage easily, but that did not mean that Venom didn't feel the blow. Some of its abilities were slowing as a result of the increasing temperature in the room as a result of the fire. On reflex, he clenched the hand that was holding Elektra, hearing a few bones snap in the process and then threw the ninja toward one of the burning walls nearby. The ninja was thrown with enough force to send her through the wall, and sending part of it collapsing down on her.

"And now to get out of here," Venom thought to himself as he heard Elektra scream in pain, but unable to get out of the fire around her.

Outside, Spider-Man gulped as the Hand ninja around Echo raised bows with arrows ready to fire.

"Are you sure we can't talk about this?" Spider-Man quipped.

"Fire," Echo commanded.

"Guess not," Spider-Man sighed as he did two back flips up the tower that the 'sign' lights were on and then shot out a webline to avoid being hit by the barrage or arrows.

Spider-Man ended up somersaulting through the air before landing on the side of another building and fired two weblines down and managed to catch two Hand ninja near the edge of the building he had just departed.

"Come on!" Spider-Man called down, "You'll have to do a lot better then arrows to get to me!"

"After him!" Echo commanded.

The Hand ninja around her quickly moved and using grappling lines they carried with them swung onto the fire escape of the building Spider-Man had gone to and began to climb it toward the roof. Spider-Man noticed this and began to shoot web-balls down on the climbing Hand ninja. They were quickly incapacitated and stuck on the fire escape where they were. He was forced to back off however when the Hand ninja at the back began firing arrows up at him. This forced Spider-Man to flip backwards to again avoid being hit.

Echo was the first to arrive on the rooftop with Spider-Man before the fifteen Hand ninja that hadn't joined her.

"Come, is this how Daredevil would want you to be?" Spider-Man spoke, hoping some of the conversations with the Man without Fear had won him some knowledge he could use to beak the Hand's control over her.

"He would approve of the peace that will eventually come," Echo replied.

"At the cost of human lives and through fear?" Spider-Man retorted as he hurdled two Hand ninja attacking him and then catching them with a pair of weblines and swing them so the two ninja collided in the air and were knocked out, "that isn't how the world should be, and you know it."

The remaining Hand ninja attacked en masse before Spider-Man could say any more. Warned by his 'spider-sense', Spider-Man was easily able to avoid the worst of their attacks, and landed several good blows of his own, which began to whittle down the numbers of Hand ninja attacking him. As he reached the end of crowd of Hand ninja, Echo caught him while he was in mid-air and unable to dodge the attack.

The attack knocked him down and sent him skidding toward the edge of the building.

"And now you fall, Spider-Man," Echo spoke as the last four remaining conscious Hand ninja moved to stand beside her, ready to strike him down should he counter attack, "you will serve the Hand well."

"Right now, I don't really feel like serving anybody," Spider-Man retorted and fired out a wide net of webbing, forcing Echo and the others to tug and pull at the web-strands trying to free themselves.

Spider-Man took the opportunity to then leap up and move forward. He quickly knocked out tow Hand ninja and when the other managed to climb out of the webbing, he caught them with stronger weblines and slung them through the air to the far corner of the roof where they landed unconscious. As they landed, Spider-Man felt his own spider-sense buzz and full force and barely avoided being sliced in two by the katana Echo was wielding.

"Hey, be careful with that," Spider-Man quipped, "You'll put someone's eye out… namely mine."

"That was the idea," Echo retorted and slashed at him again.

Ready for the attack, though, Spider-Man ducked under the attack and wrapped Echo up in a cocoon of webbing. She struggled inside it, but unable to get the weapon's blade to get a purchase on the webbing, Echo was easily restrained.

"I'm sorry about all this," Spider-Man said to her, forgetting that with her eyes covered by his webbing, it was unlikely that she'd even know he was speaking to her… or maybe he was speaking aloud to himself, "I'll try to see what I can do to get you de-brainwashed."

As he began to carry her toward the edge of the building, he heard alarms and sirens, and quickly rushed back to the rooftop across the street from the hotel that the Scriers had been operating out of. He found Venom gasping for breath on the roof and saw that the hotel was on fire.

"What did you do?" Spider-Man accused.

"Nothing," Venom retorted, "the ninjas set fire to the place trying to burn US!"

"Just be sure to tell that to the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents when they come down to chew us out," Spider-Man retorted and then looked around, "Where's Elektra?"

"In there," Venom said pointing to the burning building.

"What?" Spider-Man gasped, "Elektra is a hero! Why did you leave her in there?"

"Given that she lead the Hand ninja against us, we would think you are wrong about her," Venom answered.

"They had to have brainwashed her or something," Spider-Man argued, "its what they did with Echo… and there are ways of undoing brainwashing."

"Name one," Venom growled.

And that was where Spider-Man drew a blank. This was all the cloak and dagger spy stuff that he wasn't good at.

"I don't know, but I'm sure the S.H.I.E.L.D. guys know," Spider-Man pointed out.

"Like they care," Venom answered, "besides, what do you expect from us? To go into a BURNING building to rescue someone who tried to kill us?"

"I suppose not," Spider-Man sighed as they saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft come in and begin to pour water down onto the flames as firefighters arrived to begin putting out the fires from below, "but I still do not like it."

**Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane slumped heavily into a couch as she finally managed to escape the press conference. Most of the questions seemed to be aimed at her personal life with Peter, which had nothing with her life as Arachne, his life as Spider-Man or even why Maria Hill decided to keep their identities hidden. Those questions that did involve that were loaded, trying to make her and Peter seem like absolute idiots and that Maria Hill's only 'mistake' was putting them in the field. She felt all of this was connected to the Registration Act and fanaticism that had come out of it. She hoped and prayed it would end soon.

She was just about to relax when she felt her spider-sense buzz slightly. She then looked up to see Jarvis holding her cell-phone.

"You have a call, Ms. Watson, your Aunt instructed me to take this to you," Jarvis spoke, "it appears to be a Joseph Robertson."

"That's one of Peter's bosses," Mary Jane thought, "why would he be calling me… I had thought there'd be a Bugle representative there…" she then took the phone and thanked Jarvis for bringing it to her.

"Hello," Mary Jane spoke into the phone.

"Mrs. Parker, it's me, Robbie," the voice on the other end of the line spoke, sounding tired, "is Peter around? I'd like to speak with him please. He doesn't seem to be answering his phone for some reason."

"He's not here, Mr. Robertson," Mary Jane spoke nervously.

"Something Spider-Man related I assume?" Robbie asked.

"I take it you saw the Press Conference?" Mary Jane asked.

"I'd think the whole world saw it," Robbie answered, "unfortunately, Jonah flipped out and had a heart attack when you said Peter was Spider-Man."

Mary Jane was startled by that, as she didn't really know what to say. She wasn't particularly fond of Jameson, as he routinely made Spider-Man look bad and dramatically underpaid Peter for his photographs. But she didn't want to seem him hurt or in trouble.

"Is he alright?" Mary Jane asked.

"He'll be fine, it was only a mild one, but the doctors want to keep him in the hospital for awhile," Robbie answered, "In the meantime, I'm going to try and put some fires out before he comes back to work."

Mary Jane nodded, even though Robbie on the other line couldn't see her nodding.

"Is Peter REALLY Spider-Man?" Robbie asked, "Jonah, I think felt betrayed by Peter, and that aggravation is what caused his heart attack."

"He is, but Peter has never betrayed anyone," Mary Jane replied, "One could say he was 'using' Jonah, but even there I'd doubt that. One is that Peter was just BARELY paying his bills when he took the job to deliver photographs of Spider-Man to the Bugle… and after our marriage, it was pretty obvious that I was out earning him. And if he was really trying to 'use' anyone for publicity, don't you think he'd find someone who put Spider-Man in a bit better light? To be bluntly honest with you, Mr. Jameson is directly responsible for nearly as many plots against my husband as some of arch foes have been."

"Come again?" Robbie asked.

"He funded Spencer Smythe's 'Spider Slayers', he hired Electro and Mysterio to defeat my husband, he had Dr. Farley Stillwell create the Scorpion to fight my husband, and he's put up enough money as a private reward to have my husband brought in dead or alive to buy half of Manhattan," Mary Jane finished, "one because of planted evidence by Norman Osborn that made Peter appear to be a killer, which was later proven to be completely fabricated, and the second because of a fight that had left my husband wounded and with his mask off…"

"But he was too badly beaten to identify him in the photo and he decided see if someone else could get a photo of him with his mask off," Robbie nodded, "I know that."

"Then you'll also know that my husband has put up with far MORE then any inconsistency revealing that Peter is Spider-Man has done to him," Mary Jane spoke, "If Jonah wants to fire him, I wouldn't be surprised… but then since he's only done freelance work, Peter was never on the Bugle's payroll and can easily sell his pictures elsewhere, if he so chooses."

"You know Jonah won't see it that way," Robbie told her.

"And what do you expect? That I'd lie to help Spider-Man? Once he prints that, I'll be back on the fire again trying to explain why," Mary Jane retorted, "I did what I did today because the fire that has started was long coming. To be honest, Peter and I only registered because of my pregnancy, and our identities should have gone public when we did… and as a result we should have had this conversation earlier. I'm sorry if Mr. Jameson feels betrayed, but in my opinion, his feelings of 'betrayal' are not backed by the truth."

"To be honest, I agree with you," Robbie spoke, "I'm just trying to get a few things the reporters there missed… I've always felt your husband was a hero, and I'm trying to find a way to be able to calm Jonah down when he makes it back into the Bugle."

"I see," Mary Jane sighed.

"The reporters there didn't get into it, but why exactly did Peter switch from pro-wrestling and the entertainment business to being a hero?" Robbie asked, "as you said, he hasn't made much financially on that end."

"Power and responsibility, Mr. Robertson," Mary Jane explained, "You'll find that all records of him in show business stopping the same night the manager was robbed. Peter could have stopped him, but because the manager had cheated him out his pay for a recent event, he let him go…"

"I can't believe it!" Robbie spoke.

"And then as it turned out, the same crook killed his Uncle Ben on a later home invasion," Mary Jane continued, "when Peter learned this he was horrified and guilt ridden that he could have stopped him, but didn't. He felt that if he had stopped the guy, his Uncle would still be alive today."

"So it's all been to satiate this guilt?" Robbie asked.

"Yes," Mary Jane nodded, "His Uncle had a saying, that 'with great power comes great responsibility'. Peter's felt it is his responsibility to use his powers to help the people of the city, regardless of what they say. It's been one of the things that's sustained him through Jonah's insults."

"May I ask why the mask, then?" Robbie wondered.

"He feared that if anyone knew who he was, they would become a target for his enemies," Mary Jane explained, "Norman Osborn's criminal activities are proof of that. The whole thing involving Gwen Stacy's death was because Norman, the Green Goblin, knew who Peter was and decided to after Gwen, just to get at him. And again, and this is all OFF the record by the way, that if it weren't for my present pregnancy, Peter and I would have gone underground with Cap's whole resistance group."

"Ah ha," Robbie sighed, "I'm going to leave the whole Registration Act thing alone. Even Jonah thinks its gone too far, although that may be because a lot of people actually find it hard to call Captain America a traitor."

"The same is felt here," Mary Jane nodded, "we're all hoping things change for the better soon."

**To Be Continued…**


	12. Terror Defeated, Joy Restored

All characters appearing in Spider-Man are copyrighted to Marvel Entertainment and Stan Lee, and owned by the Walt Disney Corporation (Disney bought Marvel). No infringement of these copyrights is intended, and is not authorized by the copyright holder. All original characters are the property of TVfan.

Note: this story is continued from the end of "All the King's Men" and will run through my version of Marvel's Civil War. If you wish to know the exact plot of my version of the "Civil War", you will need to read my story in the Captain America section titled, "Civil War", although it should not be necessary to understand the events of this story.

The Laws of Terror and Joy

By TVfan

**Chapter 12: Terror Defeated, Joy Restored**

**Avengers Tower**

"I'm sorry ma'am, but we can not allow you entry," the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent spoke.

"May I ask why?" Mary Jane asked back, "I've checked with your rule books… part of my training and all… that you do allow visitation with various prisoners S.H.I.E.L.D. has taken. I am here to visit."

"Ma'am, the man is a confirmed terrorist and hates America," the agent answered, "which is why he's suing the country."

"Captain America hates America?" Mary Jane asked.

"That 'title' belongs to the United States government," the agent answered firmly, "the man in the cell is Steven Rogers, a known Terrorist, who pretended to be Captain America so he could put himself in a position to destroy this great country from within. Thankfully, Director Hill was able to force him underground, and now he's finally been caught. I hope to shoot him tomorrow morning."

"No one will be shooting anyone," came a voice carrying a slight mechanical edge too it.

Mary Jane turned to see Iron Man rounding a corner dressed in full armor.

"You will allow Arachne to visit the prisoner," Iron Man said firmly.

"But, sir," the agent began to argue.

"You will allow Arachne to visit the prisoner," Iron Man finished, "Do I make my self clear?"

"Yes, sir," the agent saluted, though he made it sound like it was a forced acceptance.

"And another thing," Iron Man growled, "In America, we do things by innocent UNTIL proven guilty. NOT guilty until proven innocent. If I wanted to hear what you just told Arachne, I'd watch Fox News. If you have trouble understanding the difference between how a democracy enforces the law and how a dictatorship does, you can take four years leave, and She-Hulk will be more then happy to lecture you on the law."

The agent did not answer. He then merely opened the door and allowed Mary Jane to enter. The 'Civil War' was not going all that well. Mary Jane's announcement that she was Arachne and that Peter was Spider-Man had blunted the worst of the problems, but she knew those problems wouldn't really go away. Robbie ended up calling a week after his first call… Jonah had recovered, and while Robbie managed to talk him out of a lawsuit, largely citing that Peter likely didn't have the money and the suit would ultimately cost the Bugle money… but Jonah did 'fire' him. By that, Robbie had explained, Jonah would not buy photos from Peter anymore. After that, Mary Jane had asked Jarvis to screen all calls coming into Avengers Tower. She didn't want to deal with the problems of enraged or shocked friends until after Peter had returned.

And on the superhero side of things, things had not gone any better, particularly if you were against the Registration Act. A team of terrorists, posing as various heroes went on a semi-bloody rampage on Long Island before being captured by Iron Man and a team of Pro-Registration heroes, along with Falcon and Cap from the Anti-Registration side. Now, this in and of itself wasn't too bad. It showed that Cap and Iron Man's plan to stop the Red Skull was working, S.H.I.E.L.D. took Cap into custody and was now holding him in Avengers Tower. Mary Jane had come to see him.

"Hey, Cap," Mary Jane said politely as the door shut behind her.

Steven Rogers looked up from the bench he was seated on.

"Mrs. …" Steve began.

"Call me, MJ, or Mary Jane," Mary Jane insisted.

"You're…" Steve said slowly, his eyes drawn to her swollen abdomen.

"I'm still pregnant," Mary Jane nodded and rubbed one hand down her womb, "it's twins, and they're due any day now… I spend much of my time praying that Peter will be back when they're born."

"I'd pray more for a better world for them to come into," Steve answered, "the Registration will take them away from you."

Mary Jane sighed, "I know… that's part of why I'm here."

Steve looked to her.

"Why did you turn yourself in?" Mary Jane asked, "you've been leading the fight against the Registration Act… and now you surrender."

"I had to," Steve answered, "Going around and punching out American soldiers would only confirm to the government that I am who they say I am… a traitor who hates his country. Getting rid of the Registration Act has to be done on a legal level, not on a fighting level. That means, I have to go before the Supreme Court and hope that they agree with my point of view on the Act. To do that, I had to be arrested."

"This still makes me nervous," Mary Jane told him, "everyone is pulling for you. Even the Pro-Registration heroes."

Steve nodded.

"Have you given any thought to names?" Steve asked curiously.

"Not really," Mary Jane sighed, "we wanted to name our first child after Aunt May since we thought that Aunt May had died and we would be honoring her by naming our daughter after her… but Aunt May turned out to be alive and our daughter was stillborn… and well, I want Peter to be part of the discussion when it comes to naming them."

Steve nodded, "I see. And I'm sure this may be tough… but hang in there. I will do my best to get the act repealed. Tony should have already sent in the appeal."

Mary Jane could only nod.

**S.H.I.E.L.D. Base, Tokyo, Japan**

"Well, that went well," Spider-Man commented as he walked out of a jail cell that he had been in since the defeat of the Hand, Elektra, and Echo at the Scriers' Tokyo base.

"If you hadn't burned down a hotel, you wouldn't have been arrested," the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent commented, "you're luck that Stark believes in giving criminals twentieth chances."

"I didn't start that fire!" Spider-Man countered.

"And a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent would have known how to prevent a fire from even starting," the agent answered, "because of you, the body of 'Elektra' was badly burned that we can not even identify if it actually was her."

"Then perhaps you ought to explain that to the Hand, the Scriers, and just about every other terrorist group… that fighting the good guys is bad," Spider-Man answered, "you talk like you know everything and that you can defeat the world's super-villains better then we can. Yet, whenever they fight back, it is somehow MY fault that they fought back… and you S.H.I.E.L.D. guys are supposed to be the soldiers."

"I'll give you 'soldier'," the agent growled.

Spider-Man turned to him, with his spider-sense buzzing, and found himself looking down the barrel of the M16 that the agent wielded. At such close range, he might be able to avoid taking a lethal hit, but he wouldn't be able to pull the same trick twice.

"Venom is already waiting," the agent growled.

Spider-Man grumbled and walked slowly down the hallway. Both he and Venom were incarcerated for the battle with the Hand, under the charges of disobeying orders. He silently wondered why he got stuck with such fanatical Hill loyalists. With Hill now out of power, these men became even more fanatical… like doing everything Hill's way would get Maria Hill reinstated. But that wasn't likely going to happen. From what little he had heard, Hill was removed as S.H.I.E.L.D. director for blindly following the US government to the point where she broke an International Organization's charter. The UN wouldn't be reinstating her. They might remove Tony if things didn't improve, but they wouldn't reinstate Hill.

The walk was a quiet one as he made his way out to the platform where the small S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft was. Venom and the other agent were waiting for them.

"So, how was it on the inside?" Venom taunted.

"I'm not in the mood," Spider-Man answered as he went past the symbiote wearing anti-hero and got into the craft.

Venom only snickered and followed him. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were quick to follow and took their seats in the cockpit.

"Well, now that your punishment for disobeying orders and burning down a Japanese hotel is completed, and since Director Stark is soft on crime, we will continue with the present mission against the Scriers," the first agent spoke, "thankfully, your insubordination has not done too much damage."

"We have checked all but one of the Scrier bases remaining on the map we recovered from them," the second agent spoke, "all abandoned. This means that their last base is occupied."

"Or they've moved to a new base you don't know about," Spider-Man commented.

"Possible, but unlikely," the second agent admitted, "our satellites would have picked up on some sort of movement on their part. Some of them can even detect magic, so it if they move, unless they're moving secretly and in small groups, it's unlikely that they've gone anywhere."

"And everyone knows that semi-mystical cults always operate like a government agency," Venom said sarcastically speaking.

"Actually, you'd be surprised just how many groups DO act that way," the first agent answered.

"Most of them, though are terrorist groups," the second agent sighed.

"The Scriers aren't political," Spider-Man answered, "if they're even there and it's their last stand… it will be because of a reason more aligned with some perceived religious destiny… or least that is what I've picked up concerning my past battles with them."

**Elsewhere**

"Are we ready?" the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers asked one of the Chief Scrier Priest in a large cavernous room.

"We are ready to begin," the Chief Scrier Priest answered, "once the Prime Scrier awakens again, we will have the strength to destroy Spider-Man outright and may finally gain a new mission after the betrayal of us by Norman Osborn."

"Good," the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers answered, "how long will you need to complete the spell to awaken him?"

"Only a couple minutes to say the spell," the Chief Scrier Priest answered, "but certain conditions must be met and kept going for a few hours. If something disturbs the spell before its action is complete, the consequences would be disastrous for us."

He received no reply.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because the Spiders have to be on their way by now," the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers answered, "This superhero 'Civil War' in the United States is getting worse. Captain America has been apprehended by the government, and is expected to appear in the Supreme Court soon. If he fails… we will likely be forced to face the Red Skull alone."

"I'd best get to work," the Chief Scrier Priest.

The Priest then went about the room. It was a massive cavernous room, centered around a large stone throne. Seated in the throne was the 'sleeping' being that the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers wanted to awaken, the Prime Scrier. Clothed in green robes the massive being sat with his head hunched forward and in some sort of entranced hibernation. He was a being of immense power, both physical and mystical, and it was unlikely that Spider-Man or Venom could stop him, as physical attacks couldn't harm him. Only energies that were either cosmic or mystical in nature could easily affect him. Lightning or laser fire would hurt him a little, but to the Prime Scrier, they were closer to a bee sting to a person rather then something that could do him harm. And the Scriers knew there were only a handful of beings that could face the Prime Scrier and live… the Silver Surfer, Doctor Strange, Thor (as his lightning is mystical in nature, as he is the God of Thunder), Galactus, and Mephisto. Spider-Man could not harm the Prime Scrier once he awakened.

The Chief Scrier Priest was quick with his work. He set up a series of candles around the throne in a pattern that only a mage would be able to recognize and discern. The Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers merely watched. Once the candles were ready, the Chief Scrier Priest returned to his leader.

"The candles are ready," the Chief Scrier Priest reported, "in order to revive him, the blood of a fresh Scrier must be shed, and his robes and blood used to ignite each candle as a sign of devotion to the Prime Scrier."

"And if he is not devoted?" the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers asked.

"Then we try again with someone else," the Chief Scrier Priest answered, "this ceremony has rules that must be followed."

"Very well," the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers answered, "I will return with one."

**Avengers Tower**

Mary Jane sighed heavily as she came into a sort of recreation room in Avengers Tower to find Jarvis, Aunt May, and Aunt Anna watching television. It was a news program and focusing entirely on the events related to the Registration Act. It had been a day since her meeting with Steven in the cells that the Avengers had. Her present stage of her pregnancy, late third trimester, had put her on maternity leave, which Mary Jane was thankful for… for the moment there were no S.H.I.E.L.D. instructors hounding her.

In that time though, Steve's plans to defeat the Registration Act had gone ahead. The Supreme Court had agreed to hear the case, in a manner that broke some of the traditions that the Court operated under, but the Super Human Registration Act seemed to be an issue that went beyond tradition… or Captain America, Steven Rogers, was that big a figure that tradition was bypassed. And that is they were watching.

"How is he doing?" Mary Jane asked as she moved to sit on the couch between Aunt Anna and Aunt May.

"They've only just started," Aunt Anna spoke, "the Captain has said that the act violates the thirteenth amendment."

"I can agree to that," Mary Jane sighed, "these S.H.I.E.L.D. guys have certainly behaved like slave drivers… the only reason Peter and I didn't go underground is pretty obvious…"

Anna and May looked over to watch Mary Jane rubbing her womb, as if her hands could protect the unborn children inside her from the realities of the world around them.

"Things will get better, dear," Aunt May tried to comfort her, placing a hand on MJ's shoulder.

"I hope so," Mary Jane nodded, "I really do."

"There have been a couple of calls for you," Aunt Anna said slowly, "friends of Peter's or yours."

"Did they leave a message?" Mary Jane asked.

"Just that they wished to speak to you, as soon as you can," Aunt Anna said slowly.

"Then they can wait," Mary Jane said firmly.

"Mary Jane…" Anna began.

"NO!" Mary Jane clenched her fists, "I'm not going to be screamed at by supposed friends who've decided to hate Peter and me because we're Spider-Man and Arachne, respectively. I would like the birth of my children to be a happy moment… I won't listen to them rant… I won't!"

"I'm sure it's not mindless ranting," Aunt Anna sighed.

"Most of the people in this city hate my husband for all he's done for them," Mary Jane said firmly, "Jameson and his stupid editorials has made them think Spider-Man is a criminal at best, but he still protects them from the worst villains an individual hero has had to face. And now I've revealed his identity to them. They're not going to turn around and say they love my husband now… they're going to find some new way to torment him… I won't put up with that until after I've had my babies!"

"Mary Jane, what's wrong?" Anna asked, "You know all of that is not true. Everyone doesn't hate your husband. You love him. May loves him. I love him, as a nephew obviously. Tell me… what's wrong?"

Mary Jane looked down for a moment. When she looked up again, Anna Watson could see tears going down Mary Jane's cheeks.

"I've betrayed him," Mary Jane cried and pulled Anna into a hug, only just barely remembering that the elderly woman couldn't stand up to her spider-strength, "he trusted me with everything and to get away from bad press, I betrayed him!"

"Oh, Mary Jane, I'm sure he won't see it that way," Anna told her and hugged her niece back, "What your rescuing me from that mugger unleashed something that couldn't be avoided. I'm sure that Peter will understand."

"Why would he trust me after I betrayed him?" Mary Jane asked, "after I… after I… af…!"

"Mary Jane?" Anna and May gasped.

"No…" Mary Jane gave a weak groan, "NO!"

"What is it?" Anna asked.

"It can't happen now… Peter isn't back yet!" Mary Jane spoke again.

"What is it?" Jarvis asked, seeing Mary Jane's discomfort.

"I think my water just broke," Mary Jane said slowly.

"Oh, dear," Aunt May managed to gasp.

**Elsewhere**

The Chief Scrier Priest waited patiently for the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers. The candles were ready and if everything went right, the awakening of the Prime Scrier would be complete and no one would be able to stop them.

"We are ready," the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers spoke as he came back into view with a much younger Scrier, the one that was intended to be sacrificed to the Prime Scrier."

"I am ready to be of service to the Prime Scrier!" the younger Scrier spoke.

The young Scrier then presented the Chief Scrier Priest with a long curved sword. The priest only nodded.

"May the will of the Prime Scrier be done," the Chief Scrier Priest answered and then beheaded the younger Scrier, and began to go about the business of the human sacrifice that his spell required.

Above the base, the S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft came to rest over what looked like a wooden temple built into a rocky cliff.

"This is it?" Spider-Man asked, "this isn't even the tallest mountain in the area."

"Tell me you're joking," the first agent questioned.

"Well, if you were going after an evil secret society, wouldn't you expect them to be on the tallest mountain available?"

"No one's built anything on Everest," the second agent answered.

"Besides, your idea is cliché," Venom grumbled.

"I suppose," Spider-Man sighed, "I suppose this means we won't get oxygen masks?"

"We're not that high up," the first agent answered and opened the door to the hovercraft, "no GO!"

Spider-Man sighed and leaped out dive toward the temple below them. He fired one webline to the temple itself to act as a brake. He swung forward and landed on a large rock to the side of the temple, but it did what he intended to do. Land without breaking any bones. Venom, meanwhile, dropped straight into ground and cratered the rock and snow where he landed.

"How much do you want to bet they've abandoned this base like all the other ones?" Spider-Man asked the symbiote wearing anti-hero.

"We had thought you would be optimistic and hope that this was their last base," Venom commented.

"It is the last base we know about," Spider-Man commented, "I just tend to think that the Scriers would be smart enough to move to a location we don't know about."

By this time they had reached the doors to the temple. Venom raised his fists up into the air and swung them down onto the temple's wooden door, which was easily knocked in as a result of blow. Spider-Man expected to find an empty room and was shocked to see two Scriers turning in surprise to Venom's 'knocking' on their door.

"Okay," Spider-Man quipped, "so it isn't completely abandoned."

"SPIDERS!" the two Scriers screamed in surprise.

They got no further chance to raise the alarm. Spider-Man landed leaping kick to one Scrier's chest that sent him flying back into a corner of the building. The impact with the wall knocked him out. Venom took a more brutal route and lunged forward, catching the Scrier with one hand before he could escape somewhere else, the symbiote partially wrapping around the Scrier to increase Venom's grip. The Scrier hacked at Venom's arm with a dagger, but the anti-hero lifted the Scrier up and then slammed him down with enough force to do damage to the wooden floor.

"And how much were you betting that this place was abandoned?" Venom asked in a taunting voice.

"Can't really say," Spider-Man sighed, "S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't paid me one cent since this entire adventure began."

Spider-Man then walked around a series of hand rails that were in the center of the room until he came to a stairwell that lead down into the mountain itself.

"So, I guess we go down, next," Spider-Man quipped.

"You first," Venom answered and followed the hero down the stairs.

**Avengers Tower**

"Arrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh!" Mary Jane growled again as pain went through her abdomen after another contraction.

Her children were ready to be born, and she was wanted nothing more then to bring them into the world. She hoped they were okay and would live. She hoped Peter was just arriving at Avengers Tower and the family would be together.

"Can I push yet?" Mary Jane as she relaxed from her most recent contraction.

Dr. Klet, who had come in on short notice cheeked for Mary Jane. The red head had been the perfect patient, and she found herself pulling for her.

"You only at a couple of centimeters," Dr. Klet told her, "we can't rush things. Right now, I need you to tell me if you felt any pain before you started feeling contractions."

"Why can't this go faster…?" Mary Jane grumbled.

"Just the way things are, I suppose," Dr. Klet, "now, did you feel any pain before you started feeling contractions?"

Mary Jane shook her head. The contractions hurt, but unlike her previous pregnancy, nothing abnormal had happened to interfere with this one. In her first pregnancy she had no pain until the Mongrain woman gave her the poison that killed her first child. At first she thought that was part of her labor for that baby, but the doctors eventually explained their concerns and why that delivery became as heart wrenching as it was. That sort of constant pain wasn't there now, though Mary Jane was not experienced enough to know if that was some part of the labor, or because her spider-powers acted as a pain suppressor…

"That's good," Dr. Klet answered, "and they were active up until you went into labor?"

"Yes," Mary Jane answered, "I spent most of last night in the bathroom. It felt like one of them was punching at my bladder all night long."

"Punching?"

"Well, it didn't feel like a foot," Mary Jane answered.

"By now, the feet should be at the other end of you womb, so the babies are born head first," Dr. Klet told her, "and your last ultrasounds seemed to indicate that. They are in position to be born."

Mary Jane held Aunt Anna and Aunt May's hands.

"Now, your put in your paperwork that you do not want a natural birth," Dr. Klet spoke as she looked at a clipboard she had with her, "is this true?"

"Yes," Mary Jane answered, "Please…"

"I'll get on it right away," Dr. Klet warned, "though, it may take awhile for them to take full affect, especially considering your spider-strength."

"My powers would fight something that is there to help?" Mary Jane asked.

"Pain killers do little to either help or hinder birth," Dr. Klet answered, "you could deliver your children without the drugs with no problems. Most heroes that have had their strength enhanced have gained a stronger immune system as part of it… it's not that you produce more, but each individual white blood cell, t-cell, and antibody is stronger… though I still wouldn't go testing this against something like AIDs or the Ebola Virus. It's complicated."

"I still do not want a natural birth," Mary Jane gritted out.

**Scrier Base**

The stairway the two went down was long and empty. No one came out to challenge Spider-Man or Venom as the descended the stairs, which at some point changed from wood to stone. Neither of them knew how many Scriers were there, but both knew that the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents waiting for them expected them to do a thorough search. They had defeated two, and guessed that their had to be more.

But while they hadn't run into more Scriers yet, the base was not undefended. After going down a few steps, Spider-Man suddenly felt his spider-sense go off like crazy.

"Uh-oh," Spider-Man gulped and leaped back, as a wall of darts suddenly fired out of a stone compartment and hit Venom in the chest.

The darts did little more then stagger Venom and the symbiote was rapidly feeding on the weapons and the poison they carried.

"Do I look like a shield to you?" Venom grumbled at the arachnid themed hero.

"I'm not immune to poisons," Spider-Man answered, "and I said 'uh-oh'. That should have been more then enough warning that something dangerous was coming."

Venom only shook his head. 'Uh-oh' could mean many things and didn't always mean that a fight was about to begin. But he proceeded down the stairs. He had given his word that Spider-Man wouldn't be harmed while fight with the Scriers was on. Dealing with the arachnid would come later.

The stairway ended at a hallway that formed a T intersection with the stairway. Venom was the first to reach that point and was forced to pull back when a throwing star flew in front of his face and buried itself in the stone wall next to him. Standing in the room that the hallway lead to were five armed Scriers, although they only seemed to be on a patrol of the base, not actually waiting for the two of them. Spider-Man, meanwhile checked the hallway that went to the left.

He found five more Scriers, all armed. His spider-sense buzzed when the closest one drew a sword and attempted to behead Spider-Man with it.

"Invaders!" one of the Scriers shouted as Spider-Man caught the Scrier that had attacked with a webline, "warn the Leader of the Brotherhood!"

Spider-Man yanked on the webline and pulled the Scrier face first into the stone wall. This was enough to knock that Scrier out, but he was unable to prevent one of them from ducking down a side hallway and while the other three readied themselves for a fight.

"Hey guys," Spider-Man quipped, "I don't suppose we could finish this with a nice friendly game of cards?"

The Scriers readied various bladed weapons.

"I guess not," Spider-Man sighed as they attacked.

The three attacked at once with two swords and a spear. Warned ahead of time, Spider-Man leaped to a different wall just seconds before the Scriers made their attack. In such close quarters, the Scriers did more harm to their cause then good. The spear wielding Scrier thrust his weapon forward and ended up getting it stuck in the wall. Before he had a chance to pull the weapon out, the two sword wielding Scriers chopped down toward Spider-Man with their weapons and when they missed, they accidentally cut the tip of the spear off from the rest of the shaft.

"It's all bad luck for you, isn't it?" Spider-Man commented once he reached the other wall as he bent backward to catch the Scrier who had now been disarmed with a webline.

Again, the Scrier was yanked away from where he stood, only this time, Spider-Man hit him with a crossing blow that sent the now unconscious Scrier back into his fellows as a sort of improvised projectile.

"Are you sure we can't settle this over cards?" Spider-Man asked, "You might fair better."

Spider-Man then leaped to the wall where the Scriers he had been facing were trying to recover. Before they could move to attack him, he slammed their heads together.

"You okay?" Spider-Man called over to Venom.

"We're fine," Venom growled back from the other room, "just peachy!"

"Alright," Spider-Man answered, "one from my group ducked down a side passage here. I'm going after him."

He then rushed towards the door that the last Scrier had run through. As he came into another hallway, his spider-sense went off again. And he soon realized why. The Scrier had left various smoke pellet balls on the floor. In his hurry, Spider-Man ended up sliding on them, raising a cloud of smoke as he went until he ended going face first into a large square chute that was carved into the rock. The next thing he sensed was falling…

Venom's fight against his five Scriers was far different from Spider-Man's. One of them ran off to give warning to the others that they were under attack, but Venom let him go. The remaining four rushed the symbiote wearing anti-hero. Ignoring the swords hitting his arms, Venom grabbed the first two and back flipped over the third, while still holding on to the Scriers he had grabbed and using the Scriers themselves as an improvised club, took the trailing Scrier out easily. The Scriers he had grabbed were then tossed aside, and they remained where they landed.

The last Scrier, had recovered by this time and landed a kick on Venom's back which sent him stumbling forward.

"Your attack ends here, monster!" the Scrier vowed.

Venom only gave him a toothy grin, and reached out with one hand, the symbiote lengthening its clawed fingers until they practically became pikes and finished of the Scrier.

"Our attack on you ends here, because when we're through with you, there won't be any of you left," Venom vowed triumphantly.

It was then that Spider-Man had asked if he was 'okay'. By the time Venom made it to where he had last seen his partner, Spider-Man was gone.

"Hopefully he didn't run," Venom grumbled, "but now, we're in… and the real fun will start."

He then sealed the entrance with his webbing, essentially trapping every Scrier in their base with him. Then, Venom waited. The Scriers would surely call for reinforcements and they would come to him. He had no intention of getting lost in their tunnels looking for Scriers to fight. They would have to come to him.

The Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers watched patiently with the Chief Scrier Priest as the spell to reawaken the Prime Scrier continued to gain power. The massive being's eyelids seemed to flutter, but did not open, yet.

"How much longer?" the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers asked.

"Still a few hours," the Chief Scrier answered, "The Prime Scrier's power is immense, but when he sleeps to replenish that power, he is in a very deep sleep."

"I fear we do not have the time," the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers commented.

"Leader! Leader! Leader!" came voices shouting behind them.

The Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers turned and was forced to physically stop two Scriers before they accidentally disturbed the spell.

"Calm yourselves!" the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers spoke firmly, "Calm yourselves. Now what is going on?"

"Venom and Spider-Man have invaded the base, they attacked us as we prepared to take our shift guarding the 'temple' above us," both Scriers said nervously, but with both of them speaking at the same time, the leading Scrier couldn't fully get their answer. He then pointed to the first Scrier.

"What is going on?" the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers asked again.

"Venom and Spider-Man have invaded the base," the first Scrier answered.

"They've invaded?" the Chief Scrier Priest gasped, "they must be slowed down. The Prime Scrier is not yet awake!"  
"Call our elite guards to the entrances to this chamber," the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scrier ordered, "arm them with flamethrowers and sonic blasters. Send all the remaining Scriers after the invaders and equip them with every available remaining weapon that we have! We must give the Scrier Priests the time they need to awaken the Prime Scrier."

"Yes, my Lord," the two Scriers answered and rushed off to carry out their orders.

"This is getting progressively worse," the Chief Scrier Priest spoke, "Spider-Man has always been a difficult opponent and other then fire and sound, Venom is practically unstoppable… precisely why we need the Prime Scrier."

"We must have faith that the others can buy time for the Prime Scrier to awaken," the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers answered, "we have no other option."

The Chief Scrier Priest only sighed.

**Avengers Tower**

"Is Peter back yet?" Mary Jane asked as she began to recover from another contraction. They were getting closer and closer together now. The pain killers were starting to work, but she could still feel the contractions of the muscles around her womb.

"No, dear," Aunt May replied, and rubbed the back of MJ's hand with her free hand.

"Why are they keeping him from me?" Mary Jane questioned, barely restraining herself from clenching her fists and crushing May and Anna's hands.

"I do not know, dear," May spoke, knowing that now was not the time for anything political.

The door then opened to reveal Dr. Klet and Jarvis.

"You have another visitor, Mary Jane," Dr. Klet spoke as Jarvis moved to stand beside May Parker.

"Is Peter back?" Mary Jane asked him.

"I am afraid that S.H.I.E.L.D. will not update me on the mission they have sent him on," Jarvis answered slowly, "the only good news I have is that I think Captain America may win his case with the Supreme Court."

"So the Registration Act will be viewed as unconstitutional?" Anna asked.

"From what I could analyze from the arguments given at the trail," Jarvis answered, "It isn't much, but it is all that I really have."

"The act can wait until after these two are born," Mary Jane told them, "how close am I? Can I push yet?"

"We're about half-way there, Mary Jane," Dr. Klet answered, "You need to hold on a little longer."

Mary Jane only sighed.

**Scrier Base**

Spider-Man ended landing in a pile of laundry. There were black robes just about everywhere in the room. He guessed it was a laundry chute, and it struck him as rather anti-climactic to have that happen.

"Why do they have a laundry chute?" Spider-Man wondered to himself as he got up.

After a moment or two, the realization that if this was in fact a base, they would need something like that to keep their clothing clean. It still struck the arachnid themed hero as odd before. He had never come across anything as mundane as laundry with any of his other adventures.

"This does give me an idea though," Spider-Man mused, "if they're all here, there has to be a reason for them all to remain here and not search out some other base."

He then began to done the all black robes that the Scriers wore to prepare to do a little snooping.

Venom, meanwhile patiently waited for an opponent to come to him. The fighting prowess that the Scriers had shown against him and Spider-Man had left much to be desired, and the symbiote wearing anti-hero was supremely confident that he would win. He cared little for where Spider-Man was, but still hoped that if anyone was to kill the web-slinger, it would be him. Then his waiting ended.

"There he is!" a Scrier shouted as he appeared in the doorway that led into the rest of the base.

He was armed with some sort of blaster weapon attached to a tube that went onto his back. He guessed that it was a flamethrower of some kind.

"Playing to our weaknesses?" Venom taunted, "not very sporting of you is it?"

Venom fired a webline which caught that Scrier around the chest and pulled him toward Venom.

"We know how to equalize things, though," Venom then laughed and used his superior strength to get the Scrier to face the doorway he had just came out of, "say good bye to your friends!"

Venom then squeezed on the trigger sending a torrent of flame back toward the Scriers trying to attack through that doorway. Venom was tempted to snicker as heard several of them scream, but other things changed the situation. Several Scriers had come around the other side of the entry area and fired sonic blasters at Venom at almost point blank range. Venom screamed in pain, made all the more worse as Brock and the symbiote could not be separated anymore, which made the symbiote's weaknesses, Brock's weaknesses.

Venom ripped the tank off of the back of the Scrier he held and threw it at the Scrier firing a sonic blaster at him from his right side and then threw the Scrier he held at the Scrier firing a sonic blaster from his left side. The tank from the flamethrower ended up exploding under the increased pressure created by the sonic blaster, knocking that one Scrier out and throwing him back behind the staircase. The physically thrown Scrier hit his compatriot and knocked him into the wall, stopping the blast from his sonic blaster and allowing Venom to recover. He quickly snatched the sonic blaster out of the Scrier's hands and broke it over his knee.

"That was unpleasant," Venom growled in a voice that clearly betrayed the threat he wanted to the Scrier in front of him.

Venom then slammed that Scrier into the stone wall before readying himself to face several more incoming Scriers, nearly all of them armed with some sort of bladed weapon. With that, Venom's confidence returned. Bladed weapons, his symbiote could easily handle.

Spider-Man meanwhile, quietly made his way through the presently empty hallways of the Scrier base. The two Scriers that had run off earlier must have warned their leaders, and now every Scrier was on the alert. This made Spider-Man thankful for the disguise he had picked up, if only he could figure out a decent excuse.

"YOU!" a voice hollered at him as he passed a different passageway at about the same time as his spider-sense buzzed.

Spider-Man turned to see two Scriers armed with sonic blasters standing in front of a door to a larger passageway.

"Yes…" Spider-Man said slowly, doing his best to hide his face.

"What are you doing down here?" the Scrier to right growled, "all the other Scriers were sent after Spider-Man and Venom in the main entryway."

"Spider-Man and Venom?" Spider-Man answered back, trying to sound nervous.

"Yes," the Scrier on the right told him, "they have invaded the base, and all the Scriers are to hold them off until the Prime Scrier awakens! You should have been told…"

"I had been assigned to deal with the laundry," Spider-Man gave an excuse, "no one told me anything… they're after the Prime Scrier?"

"No, the Prime Scrier is our ultimate weapon," the Scrier to the right replied, "the original leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers and a being of god-like powers…"

Spider-Man wished he was partnered with Thor rather then Venom.

"But the spell to awaken the Prime Scrier takes time," the Scrier to the right finished, "if Spider-Man or Venom interrupt the spell, all could be lost!"

"Now, get yourself a weapon and stop Spider-Man and Venom!" the Scrier to the left ordered.

"I have a different idea," Spider-Man quipped as he removed his disguise and leaped at the two Scriers, "stop me yourself!"

He kicked the Scrier to the right into the portion of the wall he was standing in front of, knocking him. At the same time he kicked the sonic blaster out of the hands of the Scrier on the left.

"You vile invader!" the Scrier on the left growled and moved to grapple with Spider-Man.

The arachnid themed hero caught the attempt and threw the Scrier into the chair that the Prime Scrier was seated in.

The Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers and the Chief Scrier Priest turned when they heard a sudden 'thunk' of a Scrier hitting the Prime Scrier's chair.

"Venom, here?" the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers gasped, only to see Spider-Man leap into the room.

Spider-Man landed on the Prime Scrier's chair and climbed up to put himself on the Prime Scrier's shoulder.

"So this is the Prime Scrier?" Spider-Man mused, "you know, from the way you talk about him, I would have thought him to be taller."

"STOP HIM!" the Chief Scrier Priest shouted, "before he ruins the spell!"

"You mean like this?" Spider-Man asked as he fired a series of web-balls at several of the candles that the Chief Scrier Priest had worked so hard to light earlier.

The webbing did what the Scriers all feared, interrupted the spell. The Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers watched in horror as the candles that carried the magic needed to awaken the Prime Scrier all exploded releasing their energy against the wall.

"NOOOOOOO!" the Chief Scrier Priest cried out in horror and dropped to his knees all his hard work gone.

The remaining elite Scriers charged into the room and quickly saw the devastation that Spider-Man had brought on the spell intended to win the war for them. The all raised their sonic blasters and prepared to fire. Warned by his spider-sense, Spider-Man proceeded to do a series of back flips off of the Prime Scrier's sleeping form. The blasts from the sonic blasters hurt his head, but he avoided the worst of the blast. These blasts, however, did do damage to the walls and roof of the room they were all in.

Once he reached the head of the Prime Scrier, Spider-Man fired out a pair of weblines and pulled a pair of sonic blasters away from the Scriers using them.

"Now, now, boys," Spider-Man taunted, "You keep playing with these things, and your going to get hurt."

He then threw the sonic blasters at two of the Scriers that still had their weapons as they fired them. The concentrated blast destroyed the thrown weapons, and the resulting shockwave knocked those two Scriers out after throwing them against a wall. Spider-Man then turned his attention to the last two Scriers armed with sonic blasters.

Again the Scriers fired on him. This time, using his spider-sense to warn him, Spider-Man leapt at those two Scriers. Their shots missed the arachnid themed hero, and again did some damage to rock roof above them, though no one noticed it yet. Spider-Man dealt with these two by landing strong kicks to their chest to send both of them flying. The two ended up hitting the wall closest to hem before slumping into unconsciousness.

"Four down," Spider-Man counted down the elite Scriers that he had faced so far, "two to go."

Almost as soon as he finished saying that, the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers landed directly behind him. If it weren't for his spider-sense, Spider-Man would have been crushed by the blow that the Scrier leader had delivered, successfully crocking the rocky floor.

"You will pay for what you've done here, arachnid!" the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers vowed.

"Do you prefer cash or checks?" Spider-Man quipped as he hit the Scrier leader in the face with a web-ball and moved to confront one of the remaining two elite Scriers approaching him.

He landed on the first elite Scrier, taking him to the ground, but couldn't do more as the other elite Scrier tackled him at almost the exact same moment. The Scrier took him to the ground, but wasn't able to land a blow. Using the robed man's momentum against him, Spider-Man let himself be take to the ground to bring his feet up and then send the Scrier flying face first into the wall. He got up to see the first elite Scrier charging at him again.

Spider-Man hit that elite Scrier in the face with webbing, and when he went to try and clear his vision, Spider-Man grabbed him and then threw him into the Leader of the Brotherhood of Scriers who was now trying to re-enter the fray.

"Come on, you guys this is really getting sad," Spider-Man quipped, "It really would be easier if you just surrendered."

His spider-sense went off as a dark purple sphere of energy flew past where his head had been a minute ago. He then turned to see the Chief Scrier Priest clutching at stones that were glowing with the same color as the sphere that had flown past him.

"You've ruined EVERYTHING!" the Chief Scrier Priest yelled as he fired another sphere at Spider-Man.

The web-slinger easily dodged the attack and leaped onto the side of the wall.

"All our hard work, RUINED!" the Chief Scrier Priest roared with anger.

"That's no reason to cry about it," Spider-Man taunted, "you are, after all the bad guy here. Crying doesn't really play to the 'bad guy' image… of course, neither does a laundry room, but…"

"SHUT UP!" the Chief Scrier Priest roared and fired another blast at him, and again Spider-Man dodged.

This time though, Spider-Man noticed the damage the Scrier Priest was doing to the walls with his attacks and noticed the damage the walls had already sustained. If they took any more damage, the entire area might collapse.

"Hey can you cool it? You could bring the whole place down," Spider-Man told him and fired a few web-balls at the Scrier Priest, hoping to get a chance to grab the stones the Scrier Priest was holding.

"Anything to be rid of you!" the Chief Scrier Priest roared and fired three blasts toward Spider-Man in a triangular pattern, hoping one of them would hit him.

Spider-Man dodged through a gap in the pattern of the spheres thrown at him, but the resulting explosion did exactly as he feared. The caves, while probably sturdy against most bombardments from the outside was not suitable to having bits and pieces of it blasted out from the inside. The walls looked like one solid bolder, but in reality they were a series of compacted pieces with the appearance of being a single piece. The Chief Scrier Priest's dark magic and the elite Scriers' sonic blasters had hit the rock walls enough to force fissures in the rock itself, and now it was starting to collapse downward.

"You've done it now!" Spider-Man yelled as a section of the ceiling fell.

"SHUT UP!" the Chief Scrier Priest roared and launched his attacks again toward Spider-Man, speeding up the process.

Spider-Man, meanwhile was forced to reach out with his spider-sense. His only chance of survival for the moment was to find a place where the collapsing rocks would form a natural pocket and hope that someone on the outside would dig him out.

Above the battle around the Prime Scrier, Venom continued to fight with Scriers that were attacking him. Armed with swords and other bladed weapons, Venom was able to use the symbiote's regenerative powers to their fullest potential and he was soon standing amongst a pile of unconscious or dead Scriers. But more and more Scriers kept coming, and Venom did have the sense that he was nearing the limits of his endurance. He would need to get out soon, or risk being knocked out.

"Come on! The monster is tiring!" one of the Scriers shouted and came forward with a sword.

Venom just barely avoided the blade and grabbed the man by the shoulders. He then threw him into a corner of the room. He began to turn when a sword hit one of his shoulders. He roared with pain, but that was soon drowned out by a loud cracking noise.

"What is that?" a different Scrier wondered, and then various parts of the floor they were standing on began to bend down.

At this, Venom knew what was happening. Backhanding the Scrier that had cut into his shoulder, he leaped for the entrance that he and Spider-Man had come down from when the battle began. He quickly tore away the webbing and passed through. He then resealed the passage once he made it to the top of the stairs. He quickly rushed out of the temple, as the rumbling was growing louder, and the footing weaker. Pushing himself to his limits, Venom leaped away from temple to land a hundred yards away. Panting hard, he then looked back to see the temple and the ground around it drop straight down, as if someone had detonated a massive bomb at the bottom of the Scrier's complex. Dust and smoke drifted upward as this happened.

When this was done, Venom looked down to see a pile of rocks and rubble. Nothing inside the Scrier base could have survived the implosion, he figured.

"Cursed Spider-Man," Venom growled, "going and getting himself killed to get out of the deal we held him too!"

"What the hell just happened?" growled a voice from behind him.

Venom turned to see both S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. They had landed their hovercraft during all the confusion.

"The Scriers have been finished," Venom spoke, "Your mission is done."

Before either agent could say anything and using his fingers like pikes, speared both of them.

"So, our contract to serve you, is also DONE," Venom growled to them, "thank you for the hovercraft."

Venom then quietly walked away from the scene.

**Baxter Building, NYC, New York**

Reed Richards prided himself on being one of the worlds greatest scientific minds. The present 'civil war' had not done that much to him, but he did recognize it as important. Even still, he wasn't about to let that get in the way of the project he was working on. Still working on the spaceship that the X-Men and Starjammers had commissioned him to build, he listened to various news reporters drone on about Captain America's day in court. It didn't sound like things were actually going to go well for the Registration Act.

"Dr. Richards, sir," a robotic voice said from behind him.

"What is it, HERBIE?" Reed asked the robot.

"One of the observation satellites orbiting the Earth has picked up something, I think you should be concerned with," HERBIE answered.

Reed pulled himself away from his work to turn to look at a screen that the little robot was pointing to. On it, he saw what looked like a temple and a good portion of a mountain implode.

"Doom?" Reed wondered, thinking his old nemesis was somehow involved.

"No, sir," HERBIE answered, "look!"

Reed looked on to see a black figure be approached by two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. There was a brief conversation, and then the black figure turned and killed both agents. A S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft was soon seen taking off later.

"Venom," Reed gasped, "HERBIE, patch me through to Tony Stark…"

"At once, sir," the robot complied.

All they got was a cellphone response, but the Baxter Building was able to receive it, audio only.

"Tony, we have a problem," Reed told the armored Avenger, though he couldn't know if Tony was in armor or not.

"What is it? I'm pretty busy with the court case here in Washington," Tony answered.

"Venom has just killed two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and stolen a hovercraft in the Tibetan mountains," Reed told him.

"Venom…?" Tony gasped.

"Yes," Reed answered, "I do not know how…"

"VENOM?" Tony repeated.

"Yes," Reed answered, "what is the problem? I'm sure that what he's done is horrible, but this is mostly an update on my part…"

"Reed, Maria Hill sent Spider-Man after the Scriers WITH Venom before her little 'Thunderbolts' project blew up in her face," Tony answered, "can you see any sign of him."

"Wait, the Green Goblin wasn't the first criminal, she hired?" Reed asked.

"The Green Goblin WASN'T the first criminal Hill recruited, can you see Spider-Man, anywhere? Hill made him wear his black costume," Tony replied.

"No…" Reed said slowly, "I only noticed Venom after a temple and a good portion of a mountain imploded. I haven't seen Spider-Man at all…"

Before Tony could reply, Susan entered his lab.

"Reed, darling, I just got off the phone with Jarvis at Avengers Tower," Susan spoke, "Mary Jane's in labor…"

"Mary Jane…" Reed said nervously, looking at Sue and then at the screen, a thought wandering through his mind over what he would do if he ever lost her, or her brother, or Ben, or Franklin, or Valerie.

"Yes, Arachne, you met her, remember…" Susan began.

"Yes, I remember, get Johnny and Ben," Reed spoke, "we need to get to Tibet."

"And do what?" Susan asked.

"Hope a good hero hasn't paid the ultimate price," Reed told her and left for the Fantastic Four's hanger.

**Avengers Tower**

"Okay, Mary Jane, you're ready," Dr. Klet spoke from the spot where she was preparing to deliver MJ's children, "No…"

"I've done this before, and I'm more then ready to push," Mary Jane answered, "I only hope that they are alive…"

"Your hips are more then wide enough," Dr. Klet spoke, "Delivery shouldn't be a problem."

Mary Jane only gritted her teeth, and pushed. She ended up crying out and clutching at two specialized 'squeeze balls' so she didn't injure her Aunt or Aunt-in-Law with her spider-strength.

"You're doing good, Mary Jane," Dr. Klet spoke, "I can see the head."

"Keep going, MJ!" Aunt May encouraged while Mary Jane paused between contractions, though another was quick to follow and she prepared herself to push again.

"Her comes…" Mary Jane spoke, but was unable to say anymore as another contraction hit, and she pushed, "AAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHH!"

"The shoulders are almost out, Mary Jane," Dr. Klet spoke as Mary Jane paused again, "One more out to do it…"

Breathing deeply, Mary Jane didn't have to wait long for the next contraction. As soon as it hit, she pushed, and she soon watched as Dr. Klet 'caught' the tiny life that had been inside her. As Dr. Klet turned to hand the baby to nurse to clean and cut the umbilical cord, Mary Jane heard a sound that made her shed tears of joy.

"WWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! WWWWAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"It's a baby boy, Mary Jane," Dr. Klet told her.

"A boy…" Mary Jane began to say when another contraction hit her. The boy's twin was ready as well.

"Okay, Mary Jane, lets get your son's sibling out into the world, PUSH!" Dr. Klet said with a smile.

Mary Jane pushed. About a minute and a half later, Mary Jane heard the cries of a second infant joining the first.

"You have a son and a daughter," Dr. Klet told her as the nurses moved to clean the second child.

"A son and a daughter," Mary Jane slowly mused.

"Yes," Dr. Klet smiled, "and while they're being cleaned up, we finish up with the afterbirth and make sure that you're cleaned up."

"They're so tiny…" Aunt May and Aunt Anna said from where they could see the infant twins, "what are you going to name them?"

**The Remains of the Scrier Base**

Susan Richards only looked on in horror at the sight before her. A pile of rubble with broken boulders, wooden beams, and what looked like some fragments of tile.

"Spider-Man was in that?" she turned to her husband.

"It's my guess," Reed said slowly, "the satellites didn't pick him up outside the temple when it imploded."

"I can't believe this… I can't believe he's gone," Johnny spoke from his seat in the Fantasti-car, "Done in by a mountain."

"We don't know that for sure," Reed answered, "scanners are picking up life forms inside…"

"You mean people survived all this?" the Thing wondered.

"It's possible," Reed answered, "some are close enough to the surface that they weren't completely crushed by the implosion, and those deeper down may be protected by the fact that falling rock isn't going to stack itself like bricks. There could be some small pockets of open areas that an individual might have been able to survive in… if he was lucky enough to get to those spots before they were sealed up."

"Then what are we waiting for!" Johnny spoke, "what do we do?"

"You and I are going to get all our medical equipment and restraints ready," Reed answered, "Spider-Man told us these Scriers are criminals, and I'm certain everyone in there will need medical attention. We can do enough to get them to a S.H.I.E.L.D. specialist. Sue, Ben, I will need you to move the rocks… but be careful. We don't want to accidentally throw someone down the mountain."

"I can't believe Hill sent Venom along with Spider-Man on this mission of hers," Susan spoke, "that creature is a monster… all your tests proved it when Spider-Man's come to us for help concerning that symbiote."

Reed slowly nodded, "there was a lot of good the Registration Act could have done… but she turned it into a ploy for power… and that isn't even a concern now. Right now we have to make sure that Mrs. Parker doesn't become a mother and widow on the same day."

Underneath all the rubble, Spider-Man slowly awakened. He did not know how long he was out, but guessed it had been awhile. He had the hope that Venom and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were digging to get him out, but he didn't think that was likely. Venom hated him, and the agents being the Hill stooges that they were likely went back to Stark to say he had died in the final fight.

He had enough air for the moment, but that wouldn't last him for too terribly much longer.

"I'm going to die down here," Spider-Man said in a depressed voice, "of all the villains I've fought, it's the Scriers that do the deed and they do it by collapsing a mountain on me… I love you MJ. I love you with all my heart… and I pray that you and our children live long happy lives where you're never put in a situation like this… I…"

He was cut off when heard voices above him drifting down through the rubble.

"I think we got another live one," a voice spoke, "I can hear him mumbling something."

"Okay, Ben," another voice answered, "just be careful. We don't want to collapse the rock on whoever it is."

"Who's Ben?" Peter wondered to himself, and then thought almost deliriously, "Uncle Ben is back to save me?"

He remained curled up in the small pocket he had gotten into. He didn't have the room to even reach out with his spider-strength. The rocks were that heavy. After a few moments, but what felt like forever, the rock above him begin to move away. As it lifted away, the two boulders that formed the walls began to fall toward him. Spider-Man rolled toward one, and managed to prop it up, though it took all his strength. Eventually that rock, too, was pulled away from him, and he ended up looking up to the body of a hero made of rock. Ben Grimm.

"It's the web-head," the Thing spoke, "he's still alive."

"Thank goodness," came Susan's voice as she came up and helped Spider-Man up.

Spider-Man shakily got to his feat and looked around and saw the entire Fantastic Four there.

"You all came to save me?" Spider-Man wondered.

"We saw the mountain collapse and Venom's escape through one of our satellites," Reed answered, "we then told Tony, and learned of your mission against the Scriers…"

"And at the same time, Jarvis had called us to let us know that Mary Jane had gone into labor," Susan spoke, "we undertook the rescue operation in the hope to save your family from being destroyed before it could start."

"MJ's in labor?" Spider-Man asked.

"That's probably over by now," the Thing commented, "we spent hours movin' all the rocks."

"So congratulations, bubby!" Johnny said from where he was, "you're a father!"

"I'm a father…" Spider-Man said slowly.

"Yes," Reed nodded, "you likely are. And you will receive the full congratulations of the Fantastic Four. If you can let us check you for injuries and collect the rest of the Scriers you defeated, the faster we can get you to your wife."

Susan helped him out and lead Spider-Man to the small medical area where Reed and Johnny had a small first aid station set up. A small robot was floating around the unconscious bodies of various Scriers.

"Venom…?" Spider-Man asked after a moment.

"He left shortly after the temple and the mountain collapsed," Reed told him, "we don't know where he is, and tracking him wasn't our priority."

Spider-Man slowly nodded, "thanks for saving me."

"It's what heroes do," Reed told him.

It didn't take them that long to get going again. The Fantasti-car that the Fantastic Four had taken was large enough to seat Spider-Man with the FF, and to place the wounded Scriers in a sort of "cargo" area. Reed dropped them off at a S.H.I.E.L.D. facility in India and then quickly accelerated home. On the way, the intercom on the FF's vehicle came to life. It was Tony.

"How's it going Reed?" Tony asked, "HERBIE told me you've gone to rescue Spider-Man… or recover what remains…"

"The rescue was successful," Reed answered, "Peter is alive. Tired, bruised, and in need of a great deal of rest, but alive… and anxious to meet his new family."

"New family?" Tony wondered.

"We learned that Mary Jane went into labor at the same time we learned of the results of Spider-Man's final battle with the Scriers," Susan spoke up, "we're taking him back to Avengers Tower now."

"Good to hear," Tony smiled, "and on a different note, Cap won. The Registration Act was declared unconstitutional."

"Thank goodness," Susan and Johnny both sighed.

"What do you plan to do?" Reed asked.

"Right now? Party," Tony smirked, "celebrate the freeing of a hero and announce that another is now a Papa. I'd think the moment calls for it… but in the long run, we all have a LOT of work to do."

Reed nodded.

**Avengers Tower, Later**

By the time they returned to Avengers Tower, Spider-Man had taken off his mask. He was dirty and tired, but only one thing mattered. Seeing his family. Johnny and Susan both volunteered to come, while Reed and Ben Grimm returned to the Baxter Building. They were met by Jarvis at the door.

"It is good to see you alive, Mr. Parker," Jarvis told him.

"It's good to be alive," Peter answered, "How is Mary Jane?"

"Doing remarkably well," Jarvis answered, "I'll take you to them."

He led them into the tower and into the medical area. They then came to a recovery room. Jarvis then knocked at the door.

"Who is it?" MJ's voice asked from inside the room.

"It is Jarvis," the Avengers butler answered, "You husband and a couple of guests have arrived. Your husband is a little dirty, but he wishes to see you very much."

"Hold on a moment," Mary Jane replied, and then after a few moments spoke again, "Okay… let them in."

Jarvis opened the door to reveal Mary Jay laying in a recovery bed wearing a button down medical gown while holding two small bundles to her, one in baby blue blankets and another in light pink blankets.

"Hey, MJ," Peter spoke, "I'm back, safe and sound… the Scriers are gone… and I hope to never hear from S.H.I.E.L.D. again."

Mary Jane smiled, "And I have two little someones that want to meet their daddy. Meet Maybelle Petra Parker and Benjamin Reilly Parker."

Peter looked down and then kissed Mary Jane's forehead. The two infants in her arms were nodding off to sleep as she held them.

"They're perfect," Peter told her.

"They precious, Mary Jane, simply precious," Susan spoke from the other side of the bed, "I hope they make you both very happy."

Johnny then came and put one arm around Peter, "Just remember to give them some room when Ben gets back here."

"Room?" Peter wondered.

"Yeah, you just became a father," Johnny smirked, "Ben's gone to get your congratulatory cigars."

"But I don't smoke," Peter protested only to have Johnny laugh as some things in life began to look up.

**The End…**


End file.
